MIAMI -- The first Eagle to land in the NBA knew that initial step would be brief.

Heck, when the short rookie point guard first joined Denver — due only to desperation via the injury hardship relief exception — the Nuggets were on a road swing and he didn't even really practice with them, much less play. He did some 3-on-3 work, went through pregame warm-ups and encouraged his teammates, just as general manager Tim Connelly asked him to when signing him on Nov. 29.

Brandon Goodwin, Florida Gulf Coast University's ASUN Player of the Year last season who's at least two inches smaller than his listed height of 6-foot-2, played it right although he was waived on Dec. 10.

That's why the Nuggets waived guard/forward DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell and signed the undrafted Goodwin to a two-way contract — that according to ESPN.com will pay him $600,000 this season — just six days later.

"His first stint with us, I think he came in and showed everybody that, one, he is a hard worker," said Nuggets coach Michael Malone before a 103-99 win at Miami on Tuesday night. "He fits into the culture that we're trying to create in Denver. He's talented. He's not afraid. He's got tremendous confidence. And all his teammates love him, which is a good sign. We have a very connected locker room and they have embraced Brandon.

"So when we had a chance to bring somebody back as a third point guard, he was a natural fit because he knew us and we knew him. And every time I've thrown him out there, whether it's the end of a game or the second quarter against San Antonio, he's gone out and impacted the game in a positive manner."

Goodwin, the freakishly broad-shouldered and athletic Norcross, Georgia, native who holds FGCU's scoring average record of 18.5 points, cut up with, clapped for, high-fived and pumped teammates from the bench, and did it again Tuesday night. He had an assist in four minutes that wrapped around the end of the first quarter and start of the second quarter for the 27-12 Western Conference leaders.

"That's a good indication that they they've invested in me a little bit," said Goodwin of early entrances, noting he doesn't press things in games. "So I'm hopeful for the future. If I keep going and keep being the player I can be, something more can happen out of this situation."

Goodwin, who was at UCF before spending two ASUN championship seasons at FGCU, has played in seven games and averages 1.9 points and 1.3 assists in 3.6 minutes.

"I do what I can do to show them I'm a great player offensively and defensively," he said. "I think they're starting to trust me."

The only thing missing is his mother, Swan, who raised him by herself and gets the biggest assist.

She had a stroke on Oct. 2, Goodwin's 23rd birthday.

Swan Song

She's going through rehab now and getting much better, but the talking and remembering and movement aren't so easy just yet. But that's not as bad as not being at her son's games.

"This is like the worst thing in the world you'd want to go through when your child is doing so great," Swan said by phone Tuesday from her home in Norcross.

The stroke happened when Goodwin was in training camp with the Memphis Grizzlies. He kept it to himself for a couple of days, then shared it with coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who told him to go to her. His visit was a surprise. A boost for Mom, for sure, but it also eased Goodwin's mind to see she was in great hands during her nine-day hospital stay.

"I told her, 'Take your time on getting better, that's the most important thing. I think I've got some years in me and this game will be here as long as God keeps me healthy,'" Goodwin said.

A huge basketball fan, Swan always felt her son would be in the NBA. While juggling jobs, she got Goodwin a toy hoop when he was 3 and moved him from South Carolina to Georgia solely for AAU basketball. She stuck by him when he was suspended in middle school and wasn't allowed to play and when he was expelled from Norcross High as a 16-year-old. After a year at an alternative school, with Mom's help, he made it back to NHS, which he led to a state title while earning Class 6A Player of the Year honors as a senior.

When Goodwin signed with UCF, Swan moved to Orlando to watch him grow, and he made nine starts as a freshman and averaged 10.2 points as a sophomore. But he was involved in a stupid incident — he picked up someone else's bicycle off a rack to get to practice and returned it to the wrong place — and transferred to FGCU. Swan kept pushing him.

"I've had a rough life of getting in trouble in school and stuff," Goodwin said. "She's the one, of course, who put me in this whole situation, moving from state to state and school to school trying to put me in better situations for the future."

The time of his life: FGCU's Brandon Goodwin

Now Son is picking up Mom.

"He's encouraging me a whole lot, making sure I'm taking my meds and doing my physical therapy and making sure I'm not sad and depressed and making sure I'm getting up and moving around like I should," Swan said.

Said Goodwin: "She's had to deal with me on her own, pretty much, and I want to make sure I take care of her in every way for the rest of her life."

That includes some sort of big surprise that Swan told Goodwin she doesn't need, but he won't specify. After all, she already has the best gift ever.

"This feels great," Swan said. "I still can't believe it and I'm still grateful every day ... my God, I've prayed for this since Brandon was an infant. I'm so happy. I'm still in awe, every day."

Swan expects to be in Denver for a long homestand next month with family and friends. In the meantime, she watches every second of every Nuggets game from her Norcross home.

"Seeing Brandon on TV next to some of these famous basketball players, I'm just in awe ... especially playing against (Houston All-Star James) Harden, guarding him (Monday night)," she said. "My heart had so many butterflies in it. I was like, 'Oh, my God, I wish I was there.' I wish I was in the presence of it all.

"But it feels great to know that's my child out there and I helped him get there."

Digging For Gold

Goodwin's path to the Nuggets wasn't traditional. First, he never really considered playing overseas. Because FGCU didn't make the NCAA tournament again during his senior season, he flew under the radar. For instance, Sherwood Brown got seven NBA workouts following FGCU's 2013 run to the Sweet 16. Goodwin got two — Atlanta and Memphis.

He made the Memphis Summer League team after FGCU coach Michael Fly talked to Bickerstaff, with whom he worked with the Charlotte Bobcats.

"I told J.B. point blank, 'He's an NBA player, but he's 6-foot, maybe 5-11, and you need to decide if you're OK with that. Basketball-wise, pound for pound, he's that good,'" Fly said. "J.B. contacted me very quickly after they took him at Memphis and said, 'This kid is really good, Fly.'"

Not good enough, apparently, even after averaging 12 points and pouring in 27 and 21 points in his last two Summer League games. So he was sent to the Grizzlies' G League affiliate, the Hustle. Goodwin figured he'd toil in the G League for a season or more in hopes of getting an NBA shot, but after averaging 23.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.70 steals in 10 Hustle games, Denver snatched him up.

FGCU's Brandon Goodwin on his big summer NBA run with Memphis

Two-way players — they bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League — can spend 45 days with their NBA franchise.

"I'm happy as hell for him that he was able to go the tough route and do it on his own," Fly said. "This is fantastic. I'm so proud of him and so happy for him. It's also a huge deal for our program."

Goodwin, who has a furnished apartment near Denver's Pepsi Arena, gave huge props to FGCU and especially Fly.

College basketball: FGCU falls to Florida State

"I definitely appreciate FGCU because they set me up for the NBA," he said. "They were really invested in me."

Goodwin called his current teammates "brothers" who make him feel "super comfortable." He is especially fond of former USC Upstate second-year starting guard Torrey Craig, who played against FGCU when the Spartans were in the ASUN.

In practices, Goodwin runs the third team. After them, he has fended off temptation.

"At this point, my life is strictly about basketball and setting my family up for a great future," Goodwin said. "I'm in the apartment and in the gym. That's the only two places you catch me."

Goodwin obviously has latched on to a fantastic team and he laps up everything he can.

"The way they move with the ball and the way they move without the ball is amazing," Goodwin said. "And they play defense with pride and they help each other. No wonder they're the best team in the West."

It was easy to tell in a Tuesday locker room exchange how much Malone and Goodwin like each other.

"You don't expect an NBA coach to be so relaxed," Goodwin said. "He's very connected with his guys. Everyone seems super-strict in this business, but when you have a coach who's invested with his team and friendly with his team, it makes things a lot better. Especially for a guy in my position coming from a totally different organization, he can make me feel as uncomfortable as he wants. But he makes me feel like I can do anything."

The time on the bench — mostly foreign to him — doesn't even bother the super-competitive Goodwin much.

"I know one day I'm going to get the opportunity to shine just like the rest of the guys," he said. "Just got to wait for the opportunity, and in the meantime, be a great teammate.

"It's been a ride, but I think it's only beginning."