Just before the start of this year’s free agency period, the Denver Nuggets completed a very underrated transaction by re-acquiring

As one of the only experienced players in Orlando over the last two campaigns, Afflalo accomplished all that he did while receiving more attention from opposing defenses than he ever had before. Now that he’s re-joining a team with multiple seasoned scoring threats like Ty Lawson and Danilo Gallinari, he might even get more open looks and potentially raise his 45.9% field goal percentage closer to the 49.8% he posted in 2010-11 with Denver.

Apart from scoring and effective long-range shooting, Afflalo brings an otherwise well-rounded game back to the Nuggets. He was once considered a defensive specialist on the perimeter before shifting his focus more to the offensive end, but he can still be considered a plus-defender. He also added 3.6 rebounds and a career-high 3.4 assists per game last season, making him one of only four players in the whole league to average more than 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists, while shooting over 40% from deep (Stephen Curry, Carmelo Anthony, and Goran Dragic being the others).

As impressive as those final season numbers were, they don’t tell the full story of just how good Afflalo was at times last year and how good he has the potential to be as the primary offensive option on the Nuggets next season. Before the Magic took the plunge in developing rookie and fellow shooting guard Victor Oladipo last year, Afflalo was averaging 21.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game, while shooting 48.2% from the floor and 43.6% from deep through his first 30 games. After that, his minutes and usage rate went down and Oladipo’s went up. You can’t blame the Magic for shifting to youth development in a lost season, but the star potential that Afflalo managed to flash last year before they did shouldn’t be ignored.

Now, with no up-and-coming youth breathing down Afflalo’s neck for minutes in Denver and with the Nuggets trying to climb back into the competitive Western Conference playoff picture, he should have all the minutes and shots he can handle. If he can recapture the All-Star form he displayed early last season and continue to add to his all-around solid game, the Nuggets bringing him back to Denver could prove to be one of the best moves of this offseason outside of Cleveland.