DENVER — As is to be expected of an NBA franchise that fell short of championship aspirations, the focus was squarely on improving the roster as Denver Nuggets President Josh Kroenke formally introduced David Adelman as the team’s full-time head coach.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic famously said after the team’s ouster from the playoffs in Game 7 of the West semis that the roster as it is currently constructed didn’t have what it takes to win a championship. Kroenke echoed that sentiment Wednesday.
Adelman, though, said the answer to the question lies in the future.
“[It] remains to be seen, because what are people doing within these rooms to make themselves better?,” Adelman said. “It's easy to say we didn't have the roster last year because we didn't win it. Or you can look at it and say, ‘Well, how much better can this roster get? How can we maximize what we have?’ And if we do that, I think we have a great opportunity.”
- Watch Kroenke and Adelman's full introductory news conference in the video player below:
Adelman, who has been with the Nuggets since 2016 and was the lead assistant before taking over head coaching duties when the team fired then-head coach Michael Malone just seven weeks ago, said part of that process will come down to conditioning. He said the expectation is that the players will come back in “much better shape” and ready to start the season in the fall.
Denver started last season just 11-10 and battled injuries throughout the 2024-25 campaign.
Adelman made his mark over the final three regular season games and 14 playoff games in part by playing the hot hand – something he said will continue next season.
“You want competition in that gym, and we're going to have it, and guys are going to compete for it, and whoever earns it's going to play,” he said.
Adelman, whose father Rick won over 1,000 games over 23 seasons as an NBA coach, also spoke about the importance of a playoff mindset throughout the season.
“We have to get back to being an execution based team,” he said. “If that takes away from some of our [stats], I think that's okay if it wins you a game in May, as opposed to playing a game in December. It's a very different style of basketball.”
Anyone who isn’t on board with the plan, he says, needs only to be reminded of the team’s back-to-back second-round exits following its championship run in 2023.
‘Special to see the response’
It is worth noting that the decision to promote Adelman didn’t just come from the front office. Several players advocated for him at season’s end, and Denver7 Sports’ Bradey King asked Adelman about that on Wednesday.
“It was special to see the response from the guys,” he said. “And these aren't just random players I took over, these guys won a championship. These guys are some of the most accomplished players in the NBA, not just the last three years, but the last six, seve, eight years that have been through the wars, the playoffs and seen it all. So to develop trust with them during that time, it's really important to me.”
He added that the communication between players that was on display over the final 17 games of the season – notably, Jokic stepping up in an almost player-coach capacity during some team huddles – would continue under his full-time tutelage.
“This is their team, and what they want to do next year, and the goals they have is going to come down to what they want,” he said. “I'm there to help shepherd this. But this is about them and the success they've had.”
No news on GM search
Malone, of course, wasn’t the only surprising firing in the final days of the regular season. Then-general manager Calvin Booth was also let go back on April 8.
Kroenke declined to comment on the search for Booth’s full-time replacement, but was asked about installing Adelman before picking a GM successor. He said the past seven weeks served as a “litmus test” for whether the franchise needed an “organizational reset” – and that he got his answer.
“From what I saw and how the players responded [to the late-season shakeup], our culture is still there,” he said. “We just needed to peel off a few things to have a small reset, and I think we're ready to go.”
Ben Tenzer has served as interim GM since Booth’s dismissal.