The Denver Nuggets are one of five teams that doesn’t have an official head coach right now, if one counts the San Antonio Spurs.
Of those five teams, the Nuggets are just one of just three teams that made it to the postseason without one. The Memphis Grizzlies, who’ll play a do-or-die Play-In game on Friday, fired Taylor Jenkins and promoted Tuomas Iisalo to interim head coach. The Sacramento Kings, who were eliminated from the playoffs after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the Play-In Tournament, fired Mike Brown and gave Doug Christie the interim tag.
Unlike the Grizzlies or perhaps even the Kings, the Nuggets don’t have to wonder whether they have the right man for the job.
David Adelman’s Mindset Proves He’s Right Coach For Nuggets
David Adelman has been everything that the Nuggets could’ve asked for since he took over for Michael Malone. Sure, his 3-0 record to close out the season was nice. However, what Adelman did in that three-game stretch was even more important.
Detoxifying The Workplace
When Adelman praises Nikola Jokic, he’s only further ingratiating himself with the franchise’s superstar and fan base. He’s also given Jamal Murray —who’s long been Jokic’s sidekick —a glowing review. To be clear, Malone had done this with both players.
David Adelman on Nikola Jokic:
“I’ve been around special players, I’ve never seen any player like him. The work he puts in away from it. Just how systematic he is, professional, no wasted steps.
He is absolutely the most impressive basketball player I’ve ever seen.”#Nuggets pic.twitter.com/E4Hd6vGGcc
— Joel Rush (@JoelRushNBA) April 13, 2025
However, Malone’s fiery disposition started to be grating, even to Jokic.
Adelman hasn’t roamed the sidelines for nearly as long as Malone did. He hasn’t accumulated the same amount of stress. Nonetheless, unlike Malone, Adelman’s creating a non-toxic work environment. He’s not only openly supportive of players but “calm and unthreatening” on the sidelines, to quote Hot Takes with Goodman & Haertl.
Did what we needed to do tonight pic.twitter.com/aWpfvhePIK
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) April 12, 2025
After their victory over the Grizzlies on April 11, Adelman’s peaceful personality was put on display. What was also notable was how supportive he was of all the players. “I’m really proud of you… All across the board,” he said.
With that in mind, Adelman has eschewed his predecessor’s favoritism for a meritocracy. Conversely, Malone reportedly failed to hold Russell Westbrook to the same standards as his teammates, which was one of the reasons he was removed from his post. Thus, this aspect of his coaching philosophy is particularly relevant.
David Adelman:
“Mistakingly, people said I didn’t play Russ in Sacramento. That wasn’t the case. I played the five people I thought could win the game.”
“Russ played pretty well tonight, so who finished the game? Russ.” pic.twitter.com/sdRrKDfxyK
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) April 12, 2025
A system that rewards players for how well they perform will always be the best. Rational people can’t argue against a coach giving more minutes or opportunities to someone that’s capitalized on them. A player might even be more inclined to respect a coach who takes that approach.
Balancing The Offense
Adelman doesn’t try to be overly reliant on any particular player, not even Jokic. Indeed, Jokic has averaged 13.7 field goal attempts with a 22.0 percent usage rate in the games that Adelman has coached. In the three prior games, Jokic had averaged 26.3 field goal attempts with a 37.0 percent usage rate.
Asked about Jokic’s usage, Adelman shrewdly replied: “There are moments where we want to give him a break… It’s not about taking the ball out of his hands… It’s about giving him different types of touches and letting others carry the creation load.”
Adelman on Jokić’s usage:
“There are moments where we want to give him a break from orchestrating every possession.”
“It’s not about taking the ball out of his hands—it’s about giving him different kinds of touches & letting others carry the creation load.”
Full scrum ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/7X9roulRRX
— DNVR Nuggets (@DNVR_Nuggets) April 17, 2025
Of course, Jokic is also now 30 years old. As he’s not a young stallion, this could help his energy and health in the short-term and long run. As it relates to his teammates, it just helps smooth over longstanding concerns.
Most Nuggets could tell you that Michael Porter Jr. was critical of the offense’s lack of diversity under Malone. Under Adelman, he’s took more shots than Jokic in two of the three games. Aaron Gordon, who was simply a connector to Malone, has been featured more as well. In the Nuggets’ last three games, the former fourth overall pick has averaged 24.0 points per contest with a 25.4 percent usage rate.
Damn! Aaron Gordon just be doing whatever he wants out there 😤🐐 pic.twitter.com/m4j8Oqx2ZK
— Tatiana (@Tatianaclinares) April 12, 2025
Prior to, he averaged 14.1 points per game with an 18.5 percent usage rate.
This ultimately hearkens back to a training camp when the Nuggets were installing Boomer. When describing the play, The Denver Post’s Bennett Durando noted that the team loves it because “everybody touches the ball.” Adelman has not forgotten that.
“We’d been together for a long time, and when we put that in, there was like a sense of energy,” Adelman says. “The guys felt like, ‘OK, here’s something new…”
