Emmanuel Mudiay was turning in his best season yet for the Nuggets, which isn’t saying much but does say a little something, but they decided that they were done waiting for him to become their PG of the future. They currently have 0 point guards of the future, or really point guards of any reasonable quality, on their roster (Jamal Murray doesn’t count), but they didn’t hesitate dealing Mudiay away.
He was a disappointment, sure, but it’s not like he was supremely awful. At least not this year. I guess the real problem was he was the highest usage player on the team (now is where I tell Jokic to be more aggressive, god damn it), and didn’t provide nearly enough production to justify it. That’s the kind of player he is, there’s no way to change it without making him totally useless, and the Nuggets moved on.
Now he’s on the Knicks, who already sorta had their hopeful PG of the future in Frank Ntilikina, and he’s already doing things. 10 assists in his debut, the most assists he’s had all season. Only 2 turnovers? Normally double-digit assists for him means at least half as many turnovers. 14 points as well, that’s just gravy on the mashed potato volcano that the Knicks have assembled this year.