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The Denver Nuggets and David Adelman have agreed on a contract to make Adelman the franchise's next head coach, the team announced on Wednesday.
Adelman, 44, took over as the Nuggets interim head coach for the final three games of the regular season after the team decided to fire 2023 championship head coach Michael Malone. In these three games as the interim head coach of the Nuggets, Adelman led the team to a 3-0 record and the 4-seed in the Western Conference.
Denver went on to win their first-round playoff series in seven games against the LA Clippers before falling in seven games to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Semifinals.
On Thursday while speaking with reporters, Vice Chairman Josh Kroenke confirmed Adelman's return as the full-time head coach of the time, citing that he is looking forward to the growth of the team.
“We are really excited about him, both with what he's shown over the last six weeks and then having a full summer, full training camp, and a full year to get things under his belt before we go after it again around this time next year,” Kroenke said. “There's an urgency to improve the team and organization everywhere… Anything outside of a championship is not acceptable.”
Why Nuggets wanted to keep David Adelman
The Kroenke family and the Nuggets as a whole have long held high respect for Adelman. As Malone's assistant coach, Adelman had been targeted as a potential head coaching candidate for several teams in recent seasons. Although he did not leave Denver for another opportunity, the Nuggets did not want to flirt with the idea of losing Adelman.
As a result of his relationships with Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and those running the organization, Adelman was the team's obvious choice to take over the sidelines when a decision was made to move on from Malone near the end of the regular season. The franchise has long viewed him as Malone's eventual successor.
The Nuggets still have a hole to fill following their playoff exit, as GM Calvin Booth was fired at the same time as Malone. Sorting through decisions in their front office will be Denver's next order of business after acting quickly to secure a future with Adelman.
After falling short of reaching the Western Conference Finals in their Game 7 loss to Oklahoma City, Adelman reflected on his time with Denver and made it clear he was proud of his team's resilience given all of the change that occurred.
“This is the one moment we had together… it's crushing and it's gonna take a while to get over that,” Adelman said. “I’m so proud of these guys to get this to seven.”
When asked about his potential return, Adelman made it clear he would love to return as the head coach of the Nuggets, but whether he would be back or not, this was an experience he would never forget.
Jokic was another advocating voice for Adelman within the organization, and he claimed that the interim head coach brought new energy and life to the organization at a time when they really needed it late in the regular season.
“I think he changed energy. I think the guys were woken up a little. Guys had more energy,” Jokic said after their Game 7 loss to the Thunder. “He made us believe something, and we played good. We played a seven-game series against the best team in the NBA. We had opportunity, we had chances. I think he did a really good job.”
As the Nuggets enter the offseason with Adelman as their head coach, more decisions will need to be made about the direction of the franchise.
Denver didn't reach their goal of capturing another championship, which is why Kroenke made it clear that they will spend extensive time re-evaluating their roster around Jokic. Michael Porter Jr. has already become a key talking point in possible trade discussions the Nuggets could hold to attempt and add more talent to their roster.
The Nuggets went 50-32 this season, their third straight season winning at least 50 games. With Adelman on the sidelines, the Nuggets went 10-7 overall, including regular season and postseason games.
