Emmanuel Mudiay is expected to be a member of the Nuggets' Las Vegas Summer League roster this summer, the Denver Post reports. "My gut is to have Emmanuel play summer league," coach Mike Malone said. "I think he needs to continue to work on his game, wor

Mudiay is expected to be a member of the Nuggets' Las Vegas Summer League roster this summer, The Denver Post's Chris Dempsey reports. "My gut is to have Emmanuel play summer league," coach Mike Malone said. "I think he needs to continue to work on his game, work with our coaches, and use summer league as another chance to get better in a very controlled, safe environment. But that's something that [Nuggets GM] Tim [Connelly] and I will talk about as the season winds down."

Analysis:

While high-profile second-year players often pass on summer league, Mudiay seemed on board, if not indifferent, about the possibility of playing. "I don't have a preference," Mudiay said. "Regardless, I'm just going to work on my game." The rookie out of China, by way of Dallas and the Democratic Republic of Congo, has endured a rookie season full of peaks and valleys, but he closed the month of March with averages of 15.8 points, 4.8 assists, and 3.9 rebounds while shooting 39.1 percent from the floor. It was easily his best all-around month of the season, even if the field-goal percentage leaves quite a bit to be desired. That said, Mudiay, who wasn't billed as a strong jump shooter entering the draft, did knock down 38.9 percent of his three-point attempts in March, up from his season-long mark of just 31.4 percent.