Michael Malone, Nuggets brass not 'seeing eye to eye'

Since hoisting the championship trophy in 2023, the Denver Nuggets roster has only gotten worse. In the summer immediately following their title-winning campaign guard Bruce Brown left in free agency for better money with the Indiana Pacers, who subsequently traded him to the Toronto Raptors for Pascal Siakam.

Barring Brown's departure, the Nuggets ran it back with roughly the same group for the 2023-24 season. It did not result in them going back-to-back. They were bounced in the second round of the playoffs by Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Many thought a summer of upgrades could be coming given the disappointing season after their previous championship. But lingering over any moves was the status of wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope who was entering free agency and ended up, like Brown, leaving the Nuggets for a lucrative contract with the Orlando Magic.

For the second summer in a row, head coach Michael Malone has watched a core piece of his championship squad leave for nothing in return.

NBA Rumors: Rift forming between Mike Malone, Nuggets front office

Last summer, the Nuggets brought in Reggie Jackson as a potential replacement for Brown but it didn't quite work out. Caldwell-Pope hasn't seen a like-for-like replacement come in, but the Nuggets did add veteran Russell Westbrook who spent the last season plus with the Los Angeles Clippers. Dario Saric was also added in free agency.

With the Nuggets seeming disinterested in both the trade and minimum contract markets, it's clear Calvin Booth and the front office expect their bevy of recent first-round picks to develop into pieces suitable to help the team contend around three-time MVP Nikola Jokic and Canadian guard Jamal Murray who just signed a four-year maximum contract extension. Head coach Michael Malone doesn't seem to buy that potential.

ESPN's Zach Lowe said on his most recent episode of "The Lowe Post" that there are "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."

It's surprising this is happening with a team that's only one season removed from an NBA championship and still has the best player in the league in Jokic. Jokic will turn 30 next season and spending a season or more of his prime on waiting to see if your late first-round picks will develop seems unwise. They are a team in the middle of their title window, there is no time to waste. With a player like Jokic, you have an obligation to go for it every season.

This could be a ploy of patience by the Nuggets. They may simply be waiting for the right player to become available and veiling their interest with public statements that they believe in what they have. Zeke Nnaji is a human trade exception making roughly $8 million per year and Saric and their players on rookie deals are movable as well. Pairing those contracts with a future pick swap could be enough to acquire a high-level role player.

While that approach from Denver is plausible it wouldn't explain the "rumblings" that the head coach and front office are not seeing eye to eye, especially considering that Malone is under contract until 2027. You would assume a plan like that would be made with Malone's buy in or at least understanding. Perhaps he's frustrated watching the same story play out two seasons in a row, and while a player like Jokic is capable of covering up internal fractures, this is one that could reach a season-ending breaking point if it's not rectified in due time.