Hunter Tyson is a sharpshooter who needs to sharpen his shot.
Two years into his NBA career in Denver, he’s yet to replicate the excellence of his final college season, when he lit up the ACC at 40.5% on six 3-point attempts per game.
He’s on his way to Las Vegas this week to continue pursuing that version of himself. Unlike his fellow 2023 Nuggets draftees — Julian Strawther and Jalen Pickett — Tyson is playing Summer League ball for a third year, starting 7:30 p.m. Thursday when Denver faces Milwaukee.
“I think the big thing when we talked to Hunter about playing was the game minutes,” said Andrew Munson, who’s coaching the Summer League squad. “It’s hard to find good-quality, organized basketball during the summer, so that’s a big part of our player development. Getting game reps, getting live reps. He was really excited about it, to get the chance to do that.”
Tyson was the only player on Denver’s 15-man roster last season to average fewer than 10 minutes, mostly because he was a frequent garbage-time substitution at the end of blowouts. He appeared in 51 games but checked in during the first half of only 27. He crossed the 15-minute threshold only eight times and attempted five or more 3s in a game only once.
It’s not easy for a second-round draft pick to distinguish himself and earn consistent minutes on a title-contending team.
So the Las Vegas desert is Tyson’s pasture this month.
“Trying to use this opportunity to get better,” he said. “Make the most of it every time I step on the floor. … Going to go out there and try and win, try and work on my game, try and get better. Use the game reps to continue to grow my game.”
It’ll be Tyson, DaRon Holmes II and a cast of mostly undrafted young players showcasing themselves in Denver’s five upcoming exhibitions. At the NBA level, the Nuggets need Tyson to be a deadeye spot-up shooter from the corners if he wants to stay on the court. In this setting, he’ll need to display some of that role-specific precision off the catch — but he’s also more likely to have the ball in his hands fairly often.
That’s the natural side effect of being one of the best players on a roster.
“Take good shots. Make shots. Put the ball on the floor,” the Clemson grad said. “Be a play-maker. Defend. Rebound. … I think there’s always room for growth, especially in the offseason. But when you get to the regular season, that’s when roles are carved out, and that’s when you get more comfortable doing exactly what the team needs. But right now, I think offseasons are about (individual) growth.”
Tyson is a subpar 30.7% from 3-point range so far in the NBA, but on limited attempts (88) to correspond with his playing time. When he had an opportunity to get up a high volume of 3s as a rookie in the G League, he cashed 40.8% of his tries. The Nuggets are hoping another competitive environment can ignite him.
It has in the past. Last year, he got into a brief dust-up at the end of a Summer League game, laying a foundation for the type of player he would be in the regular season: diving after loose balls, ripping away rebounds from bigger players, ticking off his opponents. Picking up a few technical fouls along the way.
The hustle is valuable. The shot-making would be even more so.
“He got some really valuable experience at the beginning of last year, and that tapered off a little bit toward the end of the year,” Munson said. “So him getting game minutes is big. And obviously want to see him knock down open shots, but try not to force too much. We want him to still play within his role. So let the game come to him, make open shots.”
MPJ trade finalized
With Denver’s trade for Cam Johnson finalized and announced Tuesday morning, Munson was allowed to comment on the move for the first time.
“From afar, Cam can do a lot of things,” the Nuggets assistant coach said. “High-IQ guy. Obviously can really shoot it, and I think he can play-make off the bounce a little bit more than people probably give him credit for. So it’ll be really fun to get him in here and see how he fits in.”
Johnson is likely to slot in as Denver’s starting small forward, replacing Brooklyn-bound Michael Porter Jr.
Porter finished his Nuggets career ranked 15th in franchise history in points (5,597), 18th in rebounds (2,209), second in 3-pointers (843) and first in effective field goal percentage (59.9%).
“We don’t win a championship without Michael Porter,” Munson said. “So, see him from Year 1 when he got here to last year, it was really impressive to see, and I’ve got a lot of respect for Mike as a person and as a basketball player. Wish him all the best.”
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