The Denver Nuggets, just days ahead of the NBA playoffs, made a pair of stunning moves.
Coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth were both fired Tuesday, the Nuggets announced via social media.
David Adelman, who had long been Malone’s top assistant, will assume interim coaching duties for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. Denver has three games left in its regular season.
“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 and delivering another title to Denver and our fans everywhere,” Nuggets president and governor Josh Kroenke said Tuesday in a statement.
“While the timing of this decision is unfortunate, as Coach Malone helped build the foundation of our now championship-level program, it is a necessary step to allow us to compete at the highest level right now.”
Kroenke reiterated that “championship-level standards and expectations remain in place” for this season. He also thanked Malone for his contributions in what Kroenke called “the most successful decade” in franchise history.
The firings come just two seasons after Malone — who leaves the franchise as its winningest coach — led the Nuggets to their first NBA championship.
There had been some friction between Malone and Booth over roster construction. Booth drafted Christian Braun and acquired Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson through the draft, as the Nuggets lost key players (Bruce Brown and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) from the 2023 championship team.
Malone and Booth tried to find common ground, professing to understand where the other was coming from — Malone wanted to win games with proven veterans while Booth needed to pay attention to team salary while developing draft picks.
For the most part, it worked. After first-place Oklahoma City, the Nuggets have been one of the better teams in the West this season.
The Nuggets, sitting in the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference at 47-32, are on a four-game losing streak and have struggled with consistency, despite having center Nikola Jokić, a three-time Most Valuable Player, posting historic numbers. The Nuggets are currently just a half-game ahead of the play-in.
Adelman had drawn head coaching interviews in recent hiring cycles and had figured to be one of the top assistants available this year. The son of former NBA coach Rick Adelman, David spent the majority of his life around the NBA. Known to be an offensive-minded coach, Adelman has evolved his father’s legacy of turning big men into attacking centerpieces; with Jokić as one of the dominant forces in the NBA, the Nuggets lead the league in points in the paint per game (58.4).
Malone, 53, coached nearly 10 full seasons with the Nuggets, compiling a 471-327 (.590) record. He was hired in 2015, taking over a Denver team that was rebuilding. Malone oversaw moderate improvements in his first three seasons with the Nuggets before a period of sustained success; prior to his firing, Malone was about to lead Denver to seven consecutive playoff appearances. He had led Denver to top-three finishes in the Western Conference in four of the team’s last five seasons.
The Nuggets hired Booth, 48, as their assistant general manager in 2017, before eventually promoting him to general manager in July 2020. His decision in March 2021 to trade for forward Aaron Gordon helped solidify Denver’s roster.
“I want to thank Calvin Booth for leading our front office for the past three years and, most importantly, for helping put the final pieces in place for the roster that delivered Denver and our fans their first NBA Championship,” Kroenke said.
“Calvin’s knowledge of the game, his passion for scouting, and his long history as a player and executive in the NBA helped lift our organization to new heights, which we will continue moving forward. We are grateful to Calvin for his eight years with the Nuggets and know his place in Nuggets history as our first championship-winning GM will be honored for years to come.”
The Nuggets will play their first game with Adelman as interim coach Wednesday night, in Sacramento against the Kings.