In the midst of brutally tough lessons for Nuggets rookie Emmanuel Mudiay, on nights when his jump shot doesn’t have a prayer and his turnover rate is sinful, I want to shout: Heaven help this kid!

For long, painful stretches of many NBA games, Mudiay is the worst point guard in the league. That is not a hot take, or even a complaint. It’s merely the truth.

“We’d all love for Emmanuel to be an all-star right now. But the reality is that’s not going to happen. It’s going to take time,” Denver coach Michael Malone said Tuesday night, when Denver lost to Orlando 85-74.

While we all dream, envisioning how Mudiay could be Jason Kidd when the rookie grows up, right now the Nuggets’ kid at the point is often very hard to watch. With increasing frequency, Malone must make the difficult choice between letting Mudiay learn from failure or giving his struggling team its best chance to win.

Read these statistics and try not to weep: His erratic 31 percent accuracy from the field ranks Mudiay 76th among NBA point guards. Mudiay’s carelessness with the basketball gives him a 1.51 assist-to-turnover ratio, which makes him the 69th-most efficient playmaker in the league. Base the analysis on advanced metrics, and the news gets worse: Golden State star Stephen Curry is No. 1 in win shares based on real plus-minus, with a score of 7.05. Mudiay, with a rating of -1.11 in the same category, ranks 82nd, dead last among point guards.

All the clunky shots and errors of youth have made me wonder whether the Nuggets are rushing the development of their prized teenager in a way that not only damages the team’s chances of winning but could also scar Mudiay’s psyche. Then the 19-year-old young man speaks, and his words, soft as a prayer, ease my concern.

“My mom,” Mudiay said, “she was my first church.”

There is an unshakable calm to Mudiay. His inner peace is grounded in faith, born from losing his father as a toddler, but with that tragic death turned into a gift by Therese Kabeya, the mother left behind to raise three sons alone.

“She just gave the Bible to us and said: ‘Look. This is going to be your father,’ ” Mudiay said. “I was like, ‘All right. That makes sense.’ “

As the rookie mistakes pile up, maybe it doesn’t matter so much what principles a player leans on but that he embraces those beliefs with all his heart. Religion is a personal choice, and Mudiay does regard his sneakers as a platform to preach.

But you can take this to church: Mudiay is as unabashedly Christian as any star athlete in Denver since Tim Tebow.

“When somebody asks me how I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten, I’m going to tell them: ‘I didn’t do it alone. God has definitely been there for me and my family.’ That’s the truth. I’m not going to hide it,” Mudiay said.

Against Orlando, Mudiay never found a rhythm, finishing with six points and five turnovers. Yes, it was another tough game when Mudiay played like a 19-year-old. During his moments of hesitation, I swear you can hear the gears grinding in Mudiay’s brain.

“I’m playing the hardest position in the league,” Mudiay said. “I’m one of the youngest point guards in the league, if not the youngest. And I’ve taken my little lumps.”

But here’s what provides hope: Mudiay very rarely acts 19 years old. This is a raw point guard with an old soul. He does not curse his basketball failures.

“It doesn’t define who I am as a person,” Mudiay said. “I’m not worried about how good of a basketball player I am or how great I’m supposed to be.”

With the Nuggets trailing 70-67 in the fourth quarter, Mudiay attacked the lane and forced an off-balance shot that was unceremoniously rejected, leading to an Orlando possession that resulted in a five-point lead for the visitors. The clock showed 6 minutes, 1 second remaining in the period. Malone ordered Mudiay to the bench, never to return to the court. For the third consecutive game, the Nuggets went with a veteran line-up down the stretch.

“We looked like the Bad News Bears,” said an obviously peeved Malone, who blasted the focus of his young team.

Mudiay won’t fold. His faith is too strong. He is the Nuggets’ future. But, in the present, the ballyhooed rookie’s game is stuck in an awkward adolescence that tries a coach’s patience.

Ball don’t lie. The five best players deserve to play.

Right here, right now, Mudiay deserves to be on the bench at crunch time.

Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or @markkiszla