We’re now 2 days past one of the most shocking announcements in recent NBA memory. The Denver Nuggets fired both their general manager, Calvin Booth, and their head coach, Michael Malone, with just 3 regular season games left until playoffs. Assuming the Nuggets make the playoffs (there is still a possibility otherwise), this is tied for the latest into a season that a playoff-bound team has ever fired their head coach.

So many questions come to mind following a move like this, but let’s start by asking…

Why did this happen?

It’s no secret that Malone and Booth were on different pages when it came to how they wanted the organization run. Booth famously admitted his controversial strategy following the 2023 championship run was to “[acquire] dudes that we try to develop… If it costs us the chance to win a championship [in 2024], so be it. It’s more about winning three out of six… than it is about trying to go back to back.” In the 2023/24 season, however, it became readily apparent that Michael Malone was not on the same page.

Booth made multiple moves prior to the 2023 NBA draft to acquire more draft capital, which the Nuggets used to select Julian Strawther (29th), Jalen Pickett (32nd), and Hunter Tyson (37th). Coach Malone’s rotations, however, hardly included them, with Julian Strawther being on the floor for only 13.8% of all available minutes while Pickett and Tyson combined for just 170 total minutes (less than 4%). This season, Denver’s injury troubles have forced deeper rotations. Even still, Strawther plays less than 35% of available minutes, while the other two sophomores remain mostly unused, and not one drafted rookie has seen the floor.

Both Malone and Booth were too stubborn to find common ground. Booth focused on drafting young talent, while Malone was centered on preparing his veterans for the playoff push. Their headbutting was toxic to the organization and rumors of each of them consistently trash talking the other didn’t help the situation. Their divorce at the end of the season felt all but inevitable, but most thought that Booth might be the sole victim, so…

Why were they both fired?

Booth’s firing is unsurprising. His unshakable commitment to doing things his way at the cost of present success drove discord into the locker room, and his inaction at trade deadlines when his team clearly needed a change-up put the organization in a tough spot. It didn’t look like he would be willing to change, and ownership was ready to move on.

Malone being fired, especially this close to the end of the season, was the biggest NBA news in months. In truth, Malone shares a lot of blame in the front-office discord. His unwillingness to compromise and frequent bickering likely placed him on a short leash with ownership. However, discord alone couldn’t lead to him being let go so soon before playoffs, so…

Why now?

The primary reason is likely that ownership thought this move wasn’t premature, but overdue. Recent reports state that the Kroenke ownership group was debating making a coaching change in the summer of 2023, but pivoted when Denver was able to bring home the franchise’s first title.

Malone’s tenure tells a story of a coach who inherited a lifeless team with no veteran talent and imbibed into them an excellent culture, developed young talent to playoff competency, and wholly embraced the city in which he lived and coached. The winningest coach in Nuggets history unquestionably deserved to be hired and to be given as long of a leash as he was. But his tenure was not without controversy. In 10 years, he has never been able to assemble a competent bench unit. In the last four seasons alone, the Nuggets have been 19.5, 24.8, 23.7, and 20.3 points per 100 possessions worse when Jokic is on the bench. That’s simply unacceptable for a team hoping to compete in the NBA.

To add to the front office problems this season, it’s become increasingly clear that Malone has lost his locker room. While Jokic is continually growing more frustrated with the lack of effort by his teammates, Malone is growingly despondent to the attitudes of his players, having recently said “[The players are] not gonna go back and watch their minutes, because nobody watches their minutes, nobody watches film.” The culture that he has slowly built over the last decade has become a shell of what it once was, and ownership clearly believed it was time for a change.

With the playoffs rapidly approaching and the team seemingly uninterested in what it takes to find playoff success, it’s arguable that a change was very necessary.

The timing does also come with the added benefit of effectively advertising the positions to the rest of the NBA. It’s hard to imagine a single job in the NBA more appealing than either the Nuggets’ GM or head coaching positions. By opening these positions today, they’ve signaled to top candidates that they shouldn’t rush to accept other offers, and that’s a decision that has potential to pay off big for the Nuggets future.

With that said, fans can’t help but wonder… 

What now?

Today, Nuggets fans can mourn. The winningest coach in franchise history, the only coach who has ever led Nikola Jokic in his NBA career, and the coach who brought the Nuggets their first championship win is no longer a part of this organization. In many ways, this is the end of an era, and for fans who have followed the team closely over the last ten years, this is far from a joyous event.

The rest of the Nuggets’ season is completely uncertain. Their odds to win the NBA finals according to most sportsbooks are unchanged, but thin, ranging from +1500 to +3500 (roughly 3% to 8%). At the time of writing this article, the Nuggets are tied in the loss column with the 7th seed and could conceivably be a play-in participant and even miss the playoffs altogether. It’s also not unlikely that this change would remotivate the roster and that they could make a run to the western conference finals or further; they certainly have the elite talent to do so. Their outcome is uncertain, but the storyline is one any fan should watch.

As for their future beyond this season, there may be even less certainty. An ownership group which is renowned for being patient to a fault has been pushed to its limits by the infighting between Malone and Booth. Keeping Nikola Jokic happy and doing everything possible to avoid wasting his prime is their only priority. It’s not unlikely that big changes are coming to the Nuggets this offseason, and the only thing I’m willing to say for certain is that Nikola Jokic will still be a part of the roster at the start of the 2025/26 NBA season. Any other player could be traded if it means improving the immediate success of this franchise.

The Nuggets have not done right by Nikola Jokic, and the debates about how his prime has been wasted will last as long as the association itself. The last question that must be asked, perhaps the only question that matters, is how can the Nuggets salvage the rest of Jokic’s prime? That question, I’ll leave for you.