A new report is shedding some light on why the Denver Nuggets made the stunning decision to part ways with coach Michael Malone just before the start of the NBA playoffs.
In an appearance on ESPN’s “NBA Today” Tuesday, Shams Charania reported that the Nuggets felt they were headed for an early playoff exit if they did not make changes now. Charania added that there was some tension between Malone and the organization over the team’s prioritization of financial sustainability, and that Malone was likely going to be fired at the end of the season no matter what.
“They’ve lost four games in a row. They’re now in the bottom half of the league in defensive rating. They felt like the signs were there that this season was not going to end well,” Charania said. “They’re getting out ahead of what they felt they were going to do come the offseason.
“They had saved millions and millions of (dollars) in terms of tax over the last couple of years. From Michael Malone’s perspective, he’s been trying to win a championship building around win-now players with Nikola Jokic. For both sides philosophically, there were some big differences there.”
"They felt like the signs were there that this season was not going to end well."@ShamsCharania with more insight on the Nuggets firing head coach Michael Malone and GM Calvin Booth. pic.twitter.com/rlR6xdoX9E
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 8, 2025
It is not entirely clear why the Nuggets would opt to get rid of both Malone and general manager Calvin Booth when Booth seemingly did what the organization wanted by keeping costs down. However, that is precisely what they did, opting for a complete organizational reset.
The Nuggets chose to fire both Malone and Booth with three games to go in the regular season despite a 47-32 record. Clearly, the hope is that the abrupt shake-up will light a fire under a team that has gone 11-13 since the All-Star break, but it is a huge risk.
