DENVER — The Denver Nuggets have named a new vice president of basketball operations and vice president of player personnel.
Ben Tenzer will become the new VP of basketball operations after Kroenke promoted him to interim GM for the playoff run. Minnesota Timberwolves executive Jon Wallace will become the franchise's new executive vice president of player personnel. Wallace spent three years with the Nuggets as scouting coordinator and operations executive from 2019 to 2021. He has experience as the director of player personnel and the general manager of the Iowa Wolves.
“As we sought to re-imagine the Nuggets front office, we are excited to kick off the work for the upcoming season with Ben and Jon leading the way,” said Josh Kroenke in a statement. “Ben did a terrific job leading the organization as the Interim General Manager during a challenging stretch, and it was clear during that time that he had earned the respect of our players, coaches, staff and his peers. In spending time with Jon, his leadership, quiet confidence and relationship-oriented mindset stood out and we are excited to bring such a fast-rising executive back home to Denver. We are eager to pair these leaders alongside our coaching staff to pursue another Larry O’Brien trophy that our fans so richly deserve.”
- Hear more from Denver7 Sports Director Lionel Bienvenu in the video player below
ESPN Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania first reported the news Monday morning.
Both will report to Josh Kroenke, according to ESPN. The franchise has yet to hire a permanent general manager with two days left to go before the NBA Draft.
This all comes as the result of Kroenke's shocking firing of the winningest coach in franchise history and general manager who connected the final pieces of the team's only championship puzzle with just three games left in the season.
Denver Nuggets
Josh Kroenke says firings of Nuggets' coach, GM were months in the making
Kroenke decided to part ways with coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth in April.
Despite leading Denver to its first title in 47 years, Malone and Booth long clashed over roster philosophies, a discord that led to a toxicity in the organization that began to affect the team's fortunes and which led Kroenke to fire them both.
Booth was a former NBA player himself and had been with the organization since 2017. He started with the team as an assistant general manager before he was promoted to general manager in 2020.
There's been turnover on the court as well with Russell Westbrook electing to become a free agent, beginning June 30.
