The Nuggets players have teeth.
They smile. They laugh. They talk.
With Michael Malone’s paranoia gone and Calvin Booth’s pettiness absent, the Nuggets are enjoying basketball again.
The Nuggets divorced from their two highest-profile employees and were awarded custody of Rocky.
Everyone is taking ownership. Except ownership. Discarding Malone and Booth without a press conference was unprofessional, but Josh Kroenke cared more about future results than showing respect.
To his credit, the Nuggets are 2-0 since the seismic shift.
Malone’s exit cast David Adelman as a Disneyland dad. Have a blast, kids. Who wants cotton candy and a Lightning Pass to Space Mountain?
When Kroenke made the move, Adelman, to me, was simply keeping the seat warm. The general rule is to never hire the interim because rebound relationships cloud judgment, leading to misguided decisions.
But watching him this week on the sidelines, in huddles and during press conferences, I decided Adelman deserves serious consideration. In fact, if he wins a playoff series, Adelman should get the job.
And here is a novel concept if that happens: All assistants’ contracts match the length of Adelman’s.
The issue for Adelman is simple: Can he prove he is not the right man at the wrong time?
His resume is worthy, but his first reference is the guy who just got canned. Doesn’t that leave him guilty, or at least compromised, by association?
Not necessarily.
Adelman and Malone share similar traits. They are basketball lifers, sons of former NBA head coaches, detail-oriented. But Adelman does not run hot like Malone. Holding players accountable with brutal honesty, while “preaching sacrifice, and showing a lot of humility,” as Jamal Murray explained Friday, helped Malone lead the Nuggets to their only NBA championship.
But even with a massive contract extension, he did not feel comfortable, his distrust of Booth a guiding force in his daily life. And when a marriage goes bad, the parents often don’t realize the tension it creates for those around them.
Adelman, the team’s former offensive boss, was always careful to credit Malone even as he was his own man. The coaches were left with no choice but to take his side as they were working on expiring contracts. Whether Malone signed off on this or the Kroenkes forced his hand when giving him a new deal, it was bad business, undermining trust.
Adelman found himself caught in this drama. But let’s be clear, he worked for Malone. He is not Malone. They offer two distinctly different personalities.
The modern NBA demands coaches pick a lane. In a players league, it is impossible to give pats on the head and kicks in the butt. It is an either-or proposition, as Malone discovered at the end of his tenure.
Adelman is a good vibes guy. Positive affirmation. This leaves him vulnerable to being taken advantage of by players, but this has not yet surfaced.
“I want a competitive spirit. If you want to have fun, you have to win. I have been around teams where we lost a lot and I liked everybody but it sure as (heck) wasn’t fun,” said Adelman, inadvertently describing the Rockies’ business model. “How hard you play and how connected you are is what fun means.”
Adelman is not your average substitute teacher. He has interviewed for multiple head coaching vacancies, with the buzz around the league that Portland will try to bring him back where his father coached if they fire Chauncey Billups.
Plus, he appears to have a strong working relationship with Nikola Jokic. The unspoken purpose of last week was not to get rid of the feuding Malone and Booth, but to keep Jokic happy. Adelman gives Jokic freedom to be more of everything on any given night — scorer, rebounder, passer, vocal leader.
“He is talking more. He makes us talk more and wants us to communicate,” Jokic said of Adelman. “He is giving me quick tips.”
Unburdened by the lineup and rotation politics involving Malone and Booth, Adelman has demonstrated meritocracy with minutes. Whoever plays the best plays the most. And plays last. So one night Russell Westbrook was on the bench. The next night he was in the mix.
Do we know if can do this over 82 games? No. That is why the next few weeks are so important.
“We talked about that a lot as a group. Write all the articles you want. We are good,” said Adelman, showing the type of edge needed to transition from riding shotgun to driving the car. “We are going to play the guys to win the game.”
It is clear that if the Nuggets don’t hire Adelman, they want someone like him. Minnesota’s Micah Nori, a former Denver assistant, fits. But what makes Nori a better candidate than Adelman?
David — don’t call him Dave — Adelman checks all the boxes. If this team advances to the second round of the playoffs, call off the search. There is no reason to bring in a big name. And based on history, there is no reason to think the Nuggets would pay for one anyway.
It all hinges on the postseason. If he crushes the audition, Coach Interim becomes Coach Adelman.
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