Said on yesterday's episode of Zach Lowe's podcast "The Lowe Post"
"There are rumblings, 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."
The Nuggets, two seasons removed from their championship victory, lost Kentavious Caldwell-Pope this offseason and did not bring in an external replacement, with the expectation of Christian Braun will take KCP's place in the starting lineup. They are also currently navigating an extension for Jamal Murray.
The belief is that the front office, led by GM Calvin Booth, want to prioritize Denver's recent draft picks, at the expense of some short-term success, while Malone wants to focus his attention on veterans, pushing for another championship.
Malone's current contract with the Nuggets runs through the 2026-27 season.
by Goosedukee
43 Comments
Cheap ownership. Jokic should request a trade to the Lakers
The 2nd apron is a great gift to cheep ownership.
you’d think they’ve come up short year after year and never broke thru with the moves they are making man
Having the best player of this era and only winning 1 ring would be a disappointment. If Jamal plays consistently at an all-star level, they should be the favourites in the West, but he’s rarely at that level.
Yeah you could kinda tell for like a while now lol.
Like the 2023-2024 season was a perfect example of Malone not wanting to gamble with young guys and their development.
He has always been focused on playing the same guys in the same rotations and not really experimenting with rotations.
Like the only times hed even try to switch things up was when someone got an injury.
But tbf the FO isnt giving him much to work with. They are more or less telling him to develope guys and win. Malone is a great playoff coach, but he isnt exactly flexible or the gambling sort.
rip Nuggets dynasty 2022 – 2022
Tim Connelly knew what he was doing.
Calvin Booth is actively working against the Nuggets
Front office deserves the blame. They’ve chosen cheap 20 year olds who maybe will be good one day over maximizing their championship window by paying established veterans what they’re worth. Not Malone’s fault he’s trying to win a championship and doesn’t feel like a 21 year old with no playoff experience is someone to trot out there.
This sounds like something I’ll see on Secretbase after a few years.
Prioritizing recent draft picks while you have a generational talent in the middle of his prime is crazy work. Tenet must be GMs favorite movie with how much they love their two timeline bullshit.
This sounds like the perfect situation for Westbrook!
In all seriousness though, Nuggets should be going all-in to win every year given that they have the best player in the NBA on their team. You don’t know how long Jokic will want to be in the league for so you can’t waste time trying to develop rookies. They had a bad matchup last year and Jamal got hurt. Things could have easily of broken the other way for them.
>want to prioritize Denver’s recent draft picks, at the expense of some short-term success, while Malone wants to focus his attention on veterans, pushing for another championship.
Weren’t there reports similar to this during the 2023 season/playoffs where they won the championship? I don’t remember if it was Booth who was butting heads with Malone or if it was someone else, but it was something like this where Malone wasn’t giving enough minutes to the players the front office wanted him to.
Malone: Fuck them young guys I got a 34-year-old Justin Holiday instead
At least we had fun
Imagine having a 29-year-old 3x MVP and thinking “NOW is the time to focus on the long-term”
Vlatko Cancar’s time to shine
Mike Malone does not want to play the young guys.
Denver FO does not want to pay the old guys
Something’s gotta give.
is it weird to anyone else that jamal murray still hasn’t signed his extension or am i just reading the tea leaves
It’s kinda funny how 2 of the last 3 defending champions have gone through the exact same thing. Ownership not willing to pay key contributors to their championship. And filling their rotation with young player who their coach doesn’t trust. Malone welcome to kerrs world lol
Imagine having the MVP and not focusing on short term success. How do you think these players will develop?
Freaking hard cap bullsh*t to save owners money. What a waste of Joker’s prime
Coaches in the NBA are “expendable”, so don’t be surprised if Malone doesn’t last that long.
Every day we get closer to the Jokic – Curry pairing…
Absolutely insane to not go all-in with Jokic in his prime. They may not get a player like him again for decades.
Westbrook Murray MPJ Gordon Jokic
And a decent bench to boot. They’ll be fine.
They haven’t been seeing eye to eye for like 15 months mow
This was pretty clear last year when he snapped at the reporters asking him about the young guys.
Booth wants to see the guys he drafted play and Malone wanted to run it back.
They should trade Jokic for future pics.
Yay! Just what I love to see.
Gossip and rumors swirling about dissent while we have literally the best mother fucking player on the planet in his prime.
Refused to resign KCP
Jamal play/contract/injury concerns
Head coach and front office beefing
OUR PETS HEADS ARE FALLING OFF!!…
Fuck me
Remenesant of the bucks in recent years .
What a terrible front office
Is the whole front office trying to all make eye contact with Mike at the same time? Cause that might do it.
Stan Kroenke is a cheapskate
Ahh, Nugglife. There you are.
They needed to get Paul George
truly braindead to not want to win now. like wtf do you think is going to happen? denver’s never gonna get a jokic again
Nuggets and Bucks proving why they were considered poverty franchises once again
Wasting Jokic’s prime should be a criminal offense.
Lose KCP, gain Russ. *shivers in Lakers PTSD*
Calvin Booth declared right after the championship he was sacrificing current wins for long term success. Nobody in that organization thought that was alarming? Jokic needs to demand a trade and go team up with a real point guard.
kroenke owned team wanting to save costs, what else is new
They gave a garbage time player $8m/yr and fucked up the entire salary situation for years to come. Fascinating stuff and one of the biggest fumbles I’ve seen in recent GM years