Jamal Murray needs a straight shooter.
A coach who’ll tell him to show up in shape. Who’ll remind him to make the NBA, not the UFC, the three letters that matter most from October through June?
A coach who’ll bring up the award snubs. Who’ll do a Google search and show the Blue Arrow just how many writers have lamented the fact that Nikola Jokic has yet to play with another All-Star in Denver.
A coach who’ll read him, aloud, Jokic’s stats from ’24-25, that full-season triple-double. Who’ll then ask Maple Curry, the way we’ve all been asking for a week now, “How the heck did that guy not win an MVP award?”
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander swam with a roster that goes 10 deep. The Joker’s season sank in the kiddie pool for the second spring in a row.
David Adelman is slated to meet reporters at Ball Arena on Wednesday for the first time as the Nuggets’ full-time coach. So far, so good. For a guy asked to jump onto a moving train and keep it from finding a ditch in early April, he did a fine job.
But the hard part, the really hard part, starts now. Once the word “interim” is gone, you can just about kiss the honeymoon period goodbye, too.
Jokic turned 30 in February. Aaron Gordon, Mr. Nugget, turns 30 in September. Clock’s ticking. The Thunder and Timberwolves ain’t going anywhere. Neither are LeBron and the Lukars.
“I thought that he (was) able to thread the needle between challenging people with direct communication while also encouraging them almost at the same time,” Nuggets vice chairman Josh Kroenke said of his new coach late last week. “And accountability was a key message of our last six weeks. And for sure, I think that was a key thing that (Adelman) kept at the front of his mind as he was trying to battle some of the best coaching staffs and teams in the league, was just holding guys accountable.”
Which is why I’m especially curious to see how he handles the mercurial Murray going forward.
Will Adelman let the Blue Arrow push him around? Or will he lay down the law on expectations? When it comes to the Joker’s title window, is DA ready to be a bad cop?
“I think he did a great job, considering everything,” Murray said of Adelman after a season-ending loss in Oklahoma City. “How we had to stay together, the different schemes we came up with. (Gordon) battling through everything. (Jokic) battling through everything. The bench stepping up. I just thought, all in all, guys (were) just staying with it and keeping a positive attitude and believing what we can do. (We) played 14 games, came up short in the last one. I’m frustrated and everything, but there’s a lot to take away from the last six, seven weeks or so.”
One takeaway never changes: The Nuggets will go as far in the playoffs as Murray takes them. Or has the legs to pull them through.
In the magical spring of ’23, the Blue Arrow put up at least 20 points 13 times during the Nuggets’ 20-game tidal wave of a title run. (Denver went 11-2 in those superlative Murray tilts, 4-0 against the Lakers.)
Over the two postseasons since, though, No. 27’s hit that “20” mark just 16 times over 26 appearances in the ’23-24 and ’24-25 playoffs. The Nuggets wound up going 10-6 in those games, 4-6 when Murray landed at 19 points or fewer.
“I think a lot of our answers,” Kroenke said last week, “are internal right now.”
Which was owner-speak for, “We’re going to run this bad boy back. Only better next time.”
How much better? How much longer? That depends largely on Murray’s shoulders. And legs.
Murray reportedly found himself battling a bad hamstring in April and an illness late in the OKC series. He toughed out a bad right elbow and a bum left calf during the ’24 playoffs.
Throw in a $208.5 million max extension — his estimated cap hit bumps up to $46.4 million next season, according to Spotrac — and it adds up to Murray becoming the most divisive star athlete in Front Range right now. After each passing June, after each frustrating postseason exit, the middle ground falls away.
Glass half-full: How can you not respect the way Jamal always shows up and plays hard through pain?
Glass half-empty: How come Jamal’s always hurt in the playoffs?
Both of those things can be true at the same time. Although it sure sounds as if Adelman and Kroenke are firmly united in the “half-full” camp. When it comes to Nuggets coaches and general managers, the Kroenkes prefer to keep things in-house. But what if the devil you know can’t chase old demons away?
“Bringing in (a coach) from the outside, while I was very open-minded to it initially, I saw the cohesiveness of the relationships on the human side,” Kroenke explained. “And I think that’s a big factor in where we’re heading with this group now and getting the most out of them.”
The spirit is willing, yet Playoff Jamal feels more and more like a ghost of parades past. If a coach has to scare that out of him, will Adelman have the power?
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