Just two seasons removed from the Denver Nuggets’ first-ever championship, team president Calvin Booth appears to already be at odds with head coach Michael Malone.
On a new episode of his “The Lowe Post” podcast, ESPN’s Zach Lowe revealed that Malone is apparently upset with Booth’s approach to team building.
“There are rumblings,” Lowe said. “Rumblings! That the coaching staff and front office, or at least the head coach and the front office, aren’t exactly seeing eye to eye in Denver. To a degree even unusual for the NBA.”
Each successive summer since the team bested the Miami Heat in a five-game 2023 NBA Finals series, Booth has shed at least one key rotation player from that team.
First, it was sixth man Bruce Brown and seventh man Jeff Green in 2023. Brown, a switchy, versatile 6-foot-4 shooting guard, departed Denver for the Indiana Pacers on a two-year, $45 million free agent contract. He was flipped to the Toronto Raptors midway through the 2023-24 season. Combo forward/small ball center Green, now 38, inked a two-season, $16 million deal with the Houston Rockets in free agency.
Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone reacts during the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game Seven of the Western Conference Second Round Playoffs at Ball Arena on May 19, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. Malone is apparently adds with Denver’s front office.
C. Morgan Engel/Getty Images
A depleted incarnation of the Nuggets finished with a solid 57-25 overall record and the Western Conference’s No. 2 seed. All-NBA center Nikola Jokic earned his third MVP honor in the past four seasons.
Though in the first round, the Nuggets made quick work of the Los Angeles Lakers for the second straight postseason (Denver beat them in 2023 in the Western Conference Finals), there were already signs of trouble in that five-game series. The Lakers kept getting off to quick starts, and pricey star point guard Jamal Murray had an erratic showing on offense. Denver ultimately fell in a seven-game second-round series to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
This summer, starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope departed the cash-strapped club in favor of a three-year, $66 million deal with the Orlando Magic. The Nuggets seem set on promoting reserve wing Christian Braun to replace Caldwell-Pope, though Braun is not nearly the same level of shooter.
The team’s biggest offseason signing has been aging former All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook on a minimum deal. The 2017 MVP can no longer shoot or defend particularly well, and needs the ball in his hands to be effective — a bit of an issue when Jokic and Murray also thrive with the rock.
Read more: Russell Westbrook Stays in West, Agrees To 2-Year Deal With Contender
Off the heels of capturing the 2023 title, Malone inked a long-term extension that will keep him with Denver through the 2026-27 season. When former team president Tim Connelly jumped ship for the Timberwolves in the 2022 offseason, Nuggets ownership promoted Booth and extended him through this year.
Booth is considering a possible Murray extension, despite his uneven playoffs and horrific performance for Team Canada during this summer’s Olympics. Murray would otherwise become an unrestricted free agent in 2025. Starting power forward Aaron Gordon has a player option for 2025-26, and thus could also become a free agent if so inclined.
The Nuggets are trending in the wrong direction with regards to their team-building around Jokic. Malone appears to have noticed.
Read more: Will Jamal Murray Stay With The Nuggets Long-Term? Denver’s GM Weighs In
