Despite a prolific Maryland basketball career, Jahmir Young wasn’t given great odds of making into the NBA because of questions about his size and ability to run an offense. At Maryland, he was a scoring-focused lead guard, which is hard to pull off in the league at 6-1. So he signed with the Denver Nuggets with hopes of making an underdog climb onto one of the NBA’s best rosters.
So far, so good for Young. He had a solid showing on Sunday in the Nuggets 130-104 preseason loss to the Boston Celtics, scoring eight points on 4-of-6 shooting, along with two rebounds and two assists in just 13 minutes. Two day earlier in the preseason opener, also against the Celtics, he scored four points on 1-for-1 shooting and posted two assists in eight minutes. Those aren’t eye-popping stats, but he’s played well enough to make an impression.
“Jahmir Young has been the Nuggets best reserve guard in Abu Dhabi by a long shot.” Nuggets reporter Ryan Blackburn wrote on X. “Obviously not counting Russell Westbrook, who is a rotation guard.”
“[Julian] Strawther and Young started attacking to give Nuggets fans at least a little something to cheer for. They led the bench group and kept pace with the Celtics bench group with Young in particular looking good (at least against NBA reserves),” wrote Zach Mikash of Nuggets site Denver Stiffs.
Former Penn State star Jalen Pickett’s security with the team looks shaky, potentially creating upward mobility for the team’s unproven youngsters, Young included.
“[Trey] Alexander is on the roster on a two-way but Young has nothing more than an exhibit 10 contract. I’d much rather have Alexander on a full NBA contract and Young occupying the two-way spot instead of continuing this sunk cost fallacy with Pickett,” Mikash wrote.
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Young played well for Denver in the NBA summer league, earning a two-way contract. After a disappointing 16-17 record in his final year at Maryland, he shined at the Portsmouth Invitational, the annual event where players viewed as fringe prospects can boost their stock. Via Ben Dickson:
He shined in April’s Portsmouth Invitational Tournament draft showcase, averaging 16.7 points, five assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game on 49% shooting en route to being named to the all-tournament team.
After three years at Charlotte, Young, an Upper Marlboro native, transferred back home to play two years at Maryland. Young was the star of the 2022-23 Terps team that won an NCAA Tournament game, and he was even better this past season despite a down year for the team. Young earned All-Big Ten first-team honors after averaging 20.4 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. He averaged 18 points per game in his Maryland career, tied for the fifth-best career average in program history.
With Young gone, Maryland coach Kevin Willard will rely on transfer guards Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Selton Miguel to replace his scoring this season.
“I think Ja’Kobi Gillespie is one of those guys that’s going to really help these guys, make their life easier, and I think that’s something that our roster [is] very balanced. Everyone complements each other. We don’t really have duplication. Willard said last week at Big Ten media days. “[Miguel is] a bucket-getter. The one thing I love about him is he can make guys better, but again, where we struggled last year with only having Jamir being and trying to be the main playmaker, a guy that we can give the basketball, don’t have to call a play. He’s gonna get someone either a shot or he’s gonna get a shot off, which, again, last year was something that we really struggled with.”
