The Denver Nuggets dropped a bomb on the basketball world on Tuesday, deciding to fire both head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth just days before the start of the NBA Playoffs.
It's shocking timing, to say the least: Denver has just three games remaining in its regular season, games which could push it as high as third in the Western Conference or as low as the Play-In Tournament. It's also shocking because of Malone's stature in the organization, which he'd led for a decade and guided to its first NBA title back in 2023.
Filling those sorts of shoes is never easy under any circumstances, but it's doubly difficult here, with so little time to adjust and so much riding on this playoff run given the uncertain futures of Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr. and really everyone on the roster not named Nikola Jokic. So who has Denver tapped for the job?
Who will serve as Nuggets head coach after shocking firing of Michael Malone?
Unsurprisingly given the compressed timeline, the Nuggets are keeping things internal, as ESPN's Shams Charania reports that the team will promote Malone's former lead assistant, David Adelman, to the interim job.
Lead assistant David Adelman will serve as the interim head coach for the Nuggets, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/DD3Y6eDJVT
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2025
The son of long-time NBA head coach Rick Adelman, David has been in Denver since 2017, spending the past eight years as an integral part of Malone's staff. Prior to his stint with the Nuggets, Adelman served for one season as an assistant with the Orlando Magic, cutting his teeth as a player development staffer under his father with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
If you're inclined to be optimistic here, you could note that Adelman has long been credited as one of the primary architects of Denver's consistently elite offense. It was, instead, the defensive side of the court that had them floundering in recent weeks, as Malone simply could not find a way to reach his locker room and see the changes he wanted. Maybe a new voice will help on that end, while keeping some continuity ahead of the playoffs.
A deep run for Denver would be nearly unprecedented, though. This is the latest in the season for an NBA coaching change since Hubie Brown back in 1981, and no interim coach has won an NBA title since Paul Westhead led the Los Angeles Lakers to the 1980 crown. (Even then, Westhead was installed as the head man at the beginning of the season, not the end of it.) Adelman has an impressive resume and has learned at Malone's foot for nearly a decade, but this sure feels like the Nuggets giving up on the 2024-25 season.