Cancar, Cornelie will use summer league to boost chances
Petr Cornelie owned one NBA jersey while growing up in eastern France — Carmelo Anthony’s.
Cornelie acknowledges he rocked Anthony’s name and number because he usually played as the former Nuggets star in the NBA 2K video game. But it turns out that wardrobe choice was a little bit of foreshadowing.
As one of Denver’s “draft-and-stash” Europeans prospects, Cornelie is set to play in his third NBA summer league after being selected in the second round in 2016. Starting Friday in Las Vegas, Cornelie and Vlatko Cancar, a 2017 second-round pick, will get their opportunity to demonstrate if they are ready to make the transition from playing professionally in Europe to the best league in the world.
“(I want) to make the team,” Cornelie said following Thursday’s practice. “That’s my only goal right now.”
Denver’s front office has a history of finding talent overseas, most evidenced by second-rounder-turned-franchise centerpiece Nikola Jokic. The 2018 draft was the first time in Tim Connelly’s tenure as general manager/president of basketball operations that the Nuggets did not select an international prospect.
And with 2018 draftees Michael Porter Jr. and Jarred Vanderbilt missing summer league due to injuries, there’s extra intrigue surrounding Cancar and Corneile.
Cancar, who says he has most improved in the tactical areas of the game over the past year, arrived late to this week’s practices after playing with the Slovenian
national team during the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers. He also won a gold medal with his home country last summer in EuroBasket, where he was teammates with NBA allstar Goran Dragic and 2018 lottery pick Luka Doncic.
Nuggets assistant Jordi Fernandez describes the 6foot8, 210pound Cancar — who has played professionally in Slovenia, Serbia and Spain — as a multipositional player on both ends of the floor.
“Everything was really easy for him,” Fernandez said following Cancar’s first practice earlier this week. “He’s got a good feel for it.”
Cornelie joins 2018 secondround draft pick Thomas Welsh and former North Carolina big man Kennedy Meeks as the playmaking centers on the Nuggets’ summer league roster.
Cornelie comes from a basketball family. His father Martial played professionally in France and his sister Jodie currently plays professionally in her home All games at Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas
Friday: Minnesota, 9 p.m., NBATV
Saturday: Boston, 9 p.m., NBATV
July 9: Milwaukee, 7 p.m., ESPNU Tournament play begins Wednesday country following her college career at Dayton. While playing on the same French club as former NBA mainstay Boris Diaw last season, the 6foot11, 220pound Cornelie added strength and toughness inside to his ability to run the floor and shoot. He averaged 5.9 points and 4.6 rebounds and shot 40 percent from 3point range while limited to 19 games due to a foot injury.
“He knows that to be able to be on the floor, he needs to be consistent with what his coach wants — if he’s asking him to roll, to space the floor, whatever it is.” Fernandez said,
“(Cornelie’s) been very vocal. If he’s open, he’s been shooting it. His body’s improved. The little things that you can tell he’s played with serious competition already.”
After dumping Wilson Chandler’s salary via trade with Philadelphia, agreeing to resign swingman Will Barton and inking firstround draft pick Michael Porter Jr. to his rookie contract, 13 of Denver’s 15 roster spots for the 201819 season are currently filled.
Torrey Craig and Monte Morris, who were on twoway contracts last season, along with secondround draft pick Jarred Vanderbilt, are contenders to fill those spots by signing full NBA deals. But the Nuggets are still over the luxury tax line, meaning another salaryshedding trade — most likely involving the expiring contracts of Kenneth Faried or Darrell Arthur — might still occur this summer.
That means a spot could still open up for a player like Cancar or Cornelie.
This much is certain: Cancar and Cornelie will wear Nuggets jerseys on the floor in Las Vegas.
But Cornelie wants the real thing — to put on the regularseason threads that Anthony once donned.