With less than three games left in the season, the Denver Nuggets have fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth.
It’s rare to fire a coach at this point in the season. That didn’t stop Memphis, who fired Taylor Jenkins with nine games left, and Denver one-upped them by firing theirs with three games left.
If one word were to describe these firings, it would be ‘odd’. The details are strange, the timing stranger. Denver is in a pretty nice spot compared to other teams in the league.
That is what makes the drastic step of cleaning house, in this manner, so extremely odd.
Why Fire Them Now?
The timing of the move is the strangest part. It was the latest firing in a season in NBA history.
The NBA playoffs start in less than two weeks, and we will know the seeding matchups sooner than that. The Nuggets are currently the fourth seed and are on a four-game slide, but this season could hardly be described as a wash. Denver will be a challenge for any team they face, and still have the foundation of a legitimate threat. A starting lineup of Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Christian Braun is still among the league’s best — at least offensively — and will be a real headache for any team not named the Timberwolves.
A shakeup like this on the doorstep of the playoffs is hard to grasp. It’s unlikely that David Adelman, now interim head coach, will be able to make massive changes or alterations that will bear fruit in the playoffs.
There is simply not enough time.
It is odd to place Denver’s postseason hopes on a first-time head coach with a week to prepare rather than the winningest coach in franchise history.
Justification
Despite a winning season and Malone’s sparkling resume, things have been rocky in Denver.
It’s been reported for some time now that Booth and Malone could not coexist. Sources close to the team disclosed that Malone and Booth have struggled to collaborate on building the Nuggets roster. Malone favored veterans who could contribute immediately, and Booth favored younger pieces who would develop into winning players.
The relationship deteriorated over the past two years until it finally boiled over this season.
Kevin O’Connor corroborated this, saying that the two ‘never liked each other, rarely spoke, and talked behind each other’s backs. Zach Lowe, on ‘The Zach Lowe Show’, added that two factions had developed within the front office, further emphasizing the rift.
Booth and Malone Never Saw Eye to Eye
Booth’s tenure in Denver has been less than stellar. The two-year tenure has been marred by poor moves, which have hurt the former champion.
Jeff Green and Bruce Brown, key players of the Nuggets’ finals rotation, were not re-signed. Instead, the money was used on Reggie Jackson, who is no longer on the team. He extended Zeke Nnaji, who still can’t crack the lineup, let starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency, and signed Dario Saric and Russell Westbrook in the offseason. Saric does not play, and Westbrook plays more than maybe he should.
On the court this season, things weren’t any better. The defensive woes continued. Jokic ranted in frustration on the bench. People near the team said the mood in the locker room after the loss to the Paces was dejected, as they’ve seen it. All this, combined with recent sullen comments from Malone, seems to indicate that he lost the locker room.
https://twitter.com/NuggetsLead/status/1909670772504965483
So, was it the fault of the GM and the players he brought in? Or was it the fault of the coach, failing to utilize them correctly?
Ownership concluded it was both. Which is odd, given Malone’s track record.
A Win-Now Move?
In the wake of the firings, Denver Nuggets owner Josh Kroenke stated that “this decision was not made lightly and was evaluated very carefully, and we do it only with the intention of giving our group the best chance at competing for the 2025 NBA Championship.”
Again, this is odd. First, refusing to wait until the end of the season to make both of these moves implies that the decision was made in haste.
Second, by firing Malone (with THREE games left in the regular season), ownership is showing confidence in the current roster. They believe their chances are better than Malone was going to give them, which matches Kroenke’s statement.
However, by firing Booth at the same time, doesn’t that show a lack of confidence in the current roster? If you are firing the man who constructed the current team, then isn’t the roster at fault? Wouldn’t a new GM who shared your decorated coach’s vision be the best path forward?
Regardless, the least strange thing about the firings is that they were made with the intent to benefit Nikola Jokic. Jokic is still the crown jewel of the Nuggets organization and proves it seemingly every time he touches a basketball. Fear of Jokic leaving in the wake of the chaos is most likely irrational. In part because no one wants to repeat the Luka scandal and because Jokic will still be under contract for years to come. He hasn’t shown any interest in leaving Denver, Serbia excluded.
Whether it was Booth, Malone, or a mix of both due to their rift, this team has not been built to maximize Jokic’s incredible prime. And that, admittedly, is a fireable offense.
Leave a comment