Ryan Nembhard’s path took an unexpected turn this summer, and the move from Atlanta to Denver may end up being the kind of break a young guard needs.
For a while, it looked like the 23-year-old, who spent last season with the Dallas Mavericks, had a real shot to open the year on the Hawks’ roster. After a quietly strong offensive season, he made sense as a possible third point guard in Atlanta. More depth never hurts.
But the Hawks had to make cuts, and Nembhard became the odd man out.
Now he lands with the Nuggets, where the fit looks far more inviting. Denver is loaded with talent, but compared with many other teams in the Western Conference, it doesn’t exactly have an overflow of fresh legs. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray remain the franchise pillars, but both are getting up there in age.
That’s where Nembhard comes in. On a two-way deal, he’ll split time between the Nuggets and their G League affiliate, but those arrangements can be converted if the team decides to go that route. And if Denver’s backcourt gets hit by injuries, he could be one call away from real rotation minutes.
That chance mattered in a way it simply wouldn’t have in Atlanta. If Nembhard had stayed with the Hawks, he would have been stuck behind CJ McCollum and Kingston Flemings, and he also would have been lower in the pecking order than most of Atlanta’s forward depth. The Hawks play positionless, and that crowded setup made his route to the floor much harder to see.
Denver, by contrast, could offer a cleaner opening. If guards miss time - and that’s described as incredibly likely - Nembhard could step in and maybe not give the job back. In Atlanta, any run he got would have likely ended the moment McCollum or Flemings returned.
He’s not being projected as a star. But he does bring something the Nuggets have clearly been short on in the years since their last championship: a bench spark.
After being moved more than once this offseason, Nembhard may have landed in the place that gives him the best chance to show what he can do.
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