OMAHA, Neb. — Nuggets coach Michael Malone insists his team had a great training camp here this past week. It’s a refrain heard coast-to-coast from other NBA camps.

But his eyes turn serious and his voice adds some bite when reviewing the Nuggets’ time here.

“At no moment have we hit the wall, where we had to say ‘c’mon guys,” he said. “They brought it every day, and they deserve the credit because it’s not easy to get through eight practices, a lot of two-a-days. They are mentally tired, they are physically tired but love where we’re at, love the work we’re getting and I love how much better we’ve gotten just in a week.”

He’s not the only one.

“The enthusiasm that is in the gym, it’s pretty amazing to me the energy that is in the gym,” veteran forward Danilo Gallinari said. “The young guys work hard and they all know how to play.”

Said Darrell Arthur: “I’m very excited…It’s going to be so easy, with the way that we’re competing in practice, going into games and competing like that. Guys are going after each other. It’s fun to watch.”

And he didn’t do much more than watch most of what happened while he rehabbed his left knee.

The Nuggets felt so good about the camp that many of them took to Twitter to spread the news. Malone praised the condition in which players arrived and the business-like approach they took to practice.

Can the momentum translate into preseason games?

“It’s always nice after going eight days against the same guys to play against a different team, to go out there and execute and take everything we’ve put in here and try to implement that into a game situation,” Malone said. “It’ll be a lot of fun to play against the Raptors on Monday.”

How much in question is there at starting PF? Kenneth Faried has been the Nuggets starting power forward in nearly all of his five seasons in Denver. There is some question, however, as to whether that will be the case this season. Malone indicated there would be real competition at the spot and a decision made late in preseason camp.

But how much competition is there?

While Faried has come to camp in stellar condition and played well, Arthur has been injured and continues to work his way back from offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. And even if he comes back soon, he’ll likely have a reserve role with few minutes as he works his way back. The Nuggets won’t want to push him too much and risk a setback to one of their best defensive players and leaders.

While the Nuggets like the idea of playing Danilo Gallinari or Wilson Chandler at power forward, that idea has always been a change-of-pace lineup, not a starting lineup. Furthermore, playing either one of the Gallo/Chandler duo 30-plus minutes a night at a spot against bigger players is a big risk. Both of them will get beat up and both have had injury histories.

That leaves the possibility of starting Nikola Jokic at power forward with Jusuf Nurkic at center. But realistically, the only scenario in which that could become a serious option is if Nurkic plays out of his mind at center in the preseason, forcing Malone’s hand to put him in the starting lineup. That would slide Jokic over to power forward.

All of this points to a fairly inevitable outcome. Faried will be the starting power forward on Oct. 26 in the Nuggets regular season opener at New Orleans.

Is the on-court combo of Jokic/Nurkic still a thing? It took until very late last season for Malone to put the big man combination of Jokic and Nurkic on the court for meaningful minutes. And what he saw, he said was good enough for him to put the duo on the court together again this season.

“That’s something that we liked at the end of the season,” Malone said. “We talked about it all off-season. …Whether they start or whether they don’t start, we will definitely play big basketball this season. We’re in a unique position like the Memphis Grizzlies that can score in the post but are also just as effective on the perimeter facing the floor because they are both willing and capable playmakers.”

So the answer is yes.

Examining what might happen at backup point guard. The depth at point guard isn’t near the top of many people’s list of things to examine, but it’s as varied and murky as ever.

Jameer Nelson is the backup point guard, a player Malone trusts, and a veteran that has a lot of basketball left in him. But it appears that many nights it won’t be a straight line from starter Emmanuel Mudiay to Nelson.

Here’s why: First, Jamal Murray. The Nuggets have put the ball in Murray’s hands a lot during camp practices, and if he doesn’t turn the ball over a ton, it stands to reason he’ll get a pretty even split between shooting guard and point guard duties once the season starts.

Second, Gary Harris. The Nuggets coaching staff asked Harris to improve his ball handling and effectiveness as the ballhandler in pick-and-roll situations, and he’s done just that. If that translates, it would mean Harris is moving more toward being a combo guard then strictly a shooting guard, which poaches ball-handling minutes from Nelson and anyone else. Related Articles Nuggets eye getting a D-League affiliate as early as 2017-18

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Third, Will Barton. One of the more eye-opening comments to come from camp was Malone’s assertion that Barton has evolved into a player that can initiate offense if the Nuggets ask him to. If Barton adds point guard duties to his plate, it means he’d be able to play any of the three perimeter positions.

The Nuggets’ backcourt is transforming itself into a bushel of combo guards. Mudiay played off the ball as well last season and will do some of that again this season. Ultimately, it means a lot of mix-and-match guard combinations and probably spells the end of the traditional starter-backup point guard substitution pattern.

Odds and ends. Malone said he wants Harris to raise his shots per game total from 10 last season to 15 this season. If all other variables from last season stay the same (shooting percentages, games, etc.), it would mean Harris’ points per game jumps from 12.3 last season to over 16 points per game this season. … The Nuggets finished up in Omaha injury-free. Other than some bumps and bruises, it’s expected all but Arthur (knee) will be available vs. Toronto on Monday. …The Nuggets spend most of this week on the road. After Monday night’s game against Toronto in Calgary, they come back home for two days before leaving for two games against the Lakers in Los Angeles.