“IT’S NOT EASY” FOR MUDIAY

Emmanuel Mudiay started his first game as an NBA rookie last season, nearly totaling a doubledouble with 17 points and nine assists.

Mudiay, the seventh overall pick by the Nuggets in the 2015 draft, played 38 minutes in that opening game, a rout of the Houston Rockets on the road. He proceeded to start 66 of the 68 games he played in as a rookie.

Mudiay entered his second season as a starter at point guard once again, and he retained that position in every game he played this season until Jan. 22, when he was sidelined by a back injury.

A little more than a month later, the 6-foot-5 Mudiay has found himself out of the rotation completely as the Nuggets chase a playoff berth in the Western Conference. Veteran Jameer Nelson, who took over the starting job when Mudiay went down in January, has held on to the job. And coach Michael Malone has made rookie Jamal Murray the backup coming out of the all-star break. It’s not a choice Malone took lightly. “It’s not easy for him,” Malone said before Sunday’s home game against the Memphis Grizzlies. “I didn’t expect it to be easy for Emmanuel. That’s probably one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make in terms of what guards I’m going to go with. Emmanuel was starting for us for a year and a half, so for him to go from starter to sort of out of the rotation is a lot to handle for a young man.”

Hibbert arrives.

The Nuggets received a boost to their post depth with the official arrival of 7-2 center Roy Hibbert, whom they acquired in a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.

Hibbert won’t be a part of the rotation, but Malone said he would have “no hesitancy” inserting Hibbert in spots.

“I’m just going to be here, observe, be a good teammate and go out there and play hard if I get a chance,” Hibbert said.

Footnotes.

The Nuggets recalled rookie guard Michael Beasley from the D-League’s Sioux Falls Skyforce. … Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (back) was unavailable to play Sunday.