This is a fanpost and was not written or influenced by any members of the Denver Stiffs staff. Like all fanposts, the thoughts and opinions in this article belong to the author of this post, alone.

BY CALLUM CHAMBERS

@CalofChambers

So before I get into it there’s something you need to know about me. I’m one of those fans that jump to conclusions very quickly. For some reason, 13 years of going for the Nuggets hasn’t jaded me and I love an early call with little evidence beyond the eyeball test.

Some of my finest include:

- "Signing Kenyon Martin to that $120 million deal can’t go wrong!"

- "Melo won’t leave, he loves Denver!"

- "JR Smith has his life together!"

- "Brian Shaw is a steal!"

So in the interest of form, I think that Murray, right at this moment is a better player than Mudiay and the minutes potentially should reflect that this season.

Let’s face it, we were all hoping Mudiay had made a leap in the offseason after having an advanced metric’s nightmare last season. He still has a hitch in his jumper, he’s still turning the ball over too often and you just don’t feel the level of comfort you should have when the point guard of your team has the pill in his hands.

A quick look at the pre-season stats (at this moment) shows that the point guard related stats are line ball. Murray doesn’t have the dime numbers that Mudiay does, but he turns it over slightly less. Then you throw in the shooting clip, points he’s putting up and the rebounding numbers and my point is proved let's all go home.

Kidding, but I have a feeling that these comparisons may not be all that different when the regular season starts humming along. Granted, it is a tiny cross-section of data we have through the pre-season, but jumping to conclusions is what I do.

While the argument could be made that Murray is really a two guard, I don’t think it matters- he needs the ball in his hands, just like Emmanuel.

Physically they measure up almost the same with Mudiay being an inch taller and Murray being a few steaks heavier. In regards to pure point guard play, Murray doesn’t have the one on one breakdown ability that Emmanuel has, but he makes up for that with great decision making out of the pick and roll, something that will feature heavily in Malone’s offense again this year. That has a lot to do with Murray’s shooting ability, forcing opposing bigs to show hard out to the three-point line, leaving one of our rolling big’s alone in the lane, something they don’t have to do with Mudiay. Denver possess some very good passing big’s too and that skill will be utilised out of the PnR when Murray is involved.

There is a smoothness and freedom to Murray’s game that I haven’t seen from a Nuggets ‘point guard’ since Billups’ second act in Denver. Having your dominant ball handler have the ability to pull the court apart with shooting can be extremely valuable (see the boys of the Bay Area) and Murray provides that in spades. From what I have seen, he is much better utilised with the ball in his hands as opposed to being shoved in a corner for spacing and waiting for it to come to him.

This is really just another upcoming roster headache for Malone. He already has to juggle a packed front court loaded with young talent and I think that it will become evident that he’ll have the same problem in the backcourt.

Initially, this won't be a big issue while Gary Harris recovers from a groin injury, but when he gets back, there won’t be a lot of minutes to go around. Harris led the team in MPG last season which leaves just leftover minutes for Murray if Mudiay is starting. And to boot, Wilson Chandler coming back pushes Will Barton to play more minutes at shooting guard, further squeezing the clock in the backcourt.

Its really nice having these problems, but inevitably the coaching staff and front office need to ask themselves, of Mudiay and Murray who are we more invested in going forward? Because that’s who the minutes should be going to.

Enjoy Mike Malone, I’m glad you have this a problem and not me.