Kenneth Faried will improve playing with Team USA
By Josh Hill
The Denver Nuggets have one of the best rising power forwards in the game at the moment with Kenneth Faried, but so far he hasn’t popped as a leader the way the team needs him to.
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That could all change though thanks to his involvement with Team USA at the World Cup this summer as Faried will be surrounding by winners both on the roster and on the bench who can collectively make him so much better for the Nuggets. According to Cody Taylor from Basketball Insiders, one thing that could help Faried get better this upcoming season is his time with Team USA.
"Perhaps the biggest thing that will lift Faried to a higher level next season is his time playing with Team USA this summer. Faried has played in and started all four games for Team USA during their exhibition games and is leading the team in field goal percentage at a blistering 72 percent (technically Mason Plumlee is leading the team, but has only six field goal attempts). Something like that – leading a team in shooting with other premier players on the team – will certainly help his confidence when he returns to the Nuggets this upcoming season."
It’s hard to say that Faried will take leaps and bounds just from his involvement with Team USA as he may have been destined to do so already. But it can’t hurt that Faried is learning from the best in the business and Nuggets fans will be more than happy to see how much better he is this season.
Be sure to check FanSided.com’s official NBA page to keep up to date on the latest news and rumors from around the league all summer long.