Josh Kroenke’s time to prove himself is now
The Nuggets future and Josh Kroenke’s legacy as Denver Nuggets President and Governor both rest on his coach and GM hires.
After years of wondering, we now know who pulls the strings for the Denver Nuggets; Josh Kroenke.
Turnovers are a problem on the hardwood for any NBA team and similarly, turnover in terms of personnel can be terrible as well.
The Nuggs have gone through more turnover than your local Wal-Mart in recent years, with two critical changes as of late; Masai Ujiri walked and George Karl was shown the door.
When Ujiri – the reigning NBA Executive of the Year – walked, it stunk of the team being cheaper than the deals at Sam’s Club. Avs fans complained for years that the Kroenkes have been cheap, and with Ujiri being paid the lowest salary of any GM, it was more a question of when the talented basketball mind would leave than if.
But Kroenke made a few things clear on the Ujiri front; Toronto – the African native’s former employer – was the only team allowed to talk to the former Nuggets VP of Basketball Operations, and Ujiri told Kroenke not to match the deal because he wanted to return to the Raptors.
It’s Josh’s story, he can tell it however he wants.
If that’s the case, it takes all of the blame off of Kroenke Sports Enterprises not paying the man that orchestrated the Melo Megadeal. No matter what the Nuggets offered Ujiri, he was going home to Toronto to study under Jerry Colangelo.
Mere days later, Kroenke canned Karl, only weeks after the team announced they would keep the veteran basketball coach around for one more year to fulfill his contract.
Reports surfaced that Kroenke was fed up with Karl’s use of the players he was given – Josh wanted JaVale McGee and Evan Fournier to play over Kosta Koufos and Andre Miller, and for Karl to utilize his big lineup instead of playing small ball against the Warriors – and that was just this postseason. Imagine his complaints after the 2009 Western Conference Finals in-bounds pass debacles or watching the team fade in Game Seven last year against the rival Lakers.
The truth is, with Karl as head coach, the Nuggets weren’t going to advance in the playoffs next season, or in the distant future either.
Kroenke made the tough but intelligent decision to fire Karl and start from scratch with a new GM and head coach. The Nuggets needed a new infusion of energy, new thinking, a new voice barking commands at them. The third-youngest team in the NBA needs a younger man, one that doesn’t look like he could fall asleep on the bench at any moment, a man that can connect with the players instead of lording basketball knowledge over them.
And with that, we have arrived at Josh Kroenke’s defining moment as the owner and decision-maker of the Denver Nuggets.
He’s calling the shots and the two decisions he makes in the coming days or weeks will impact the next few years of the franchise.
Will Kroenke make like a Wal-Mart manager and promote within? Melvin Hunt was the active body on the sidelines the last three seasons, coaching players up on the sidelines and doing much more coaching during offseasons. He traveled to Italy with Danilo Gallinari and went to mother Russia with Timofey Mozgov. While the NBA season is in full swing, he helped Karl draw up gameplans and worked directly with players. As a 15-year assistant coach, Hunt possesses the blend of youth and experience that would benefit Denver; but, will he get a shot?
Likewise, Pete D’Alessandro has been the Nuggets’ VP of Basketball Operations since December; will Kroenke promote him to full-time GM? Or does he even need to?
There are also multiple other strong coaching candidates – Brian Shaw, Lionel Hollins and Stan Van Gundy to name a few – that Kroenke could go after and it’s possible he’s already talked with one if not all three of them and it’s likely that Kroenke has a litany of men in his mind that could be the next GM.
Maybe Josh enjoys calling the shots so much, he’ll just take the lead role in the front office, similar to Mark Cuban in Dallas. And really, it’s possible Kroenke has been behind more of the many moves than we realize.
With 17 days until the NBA Draft, time is ticking for Kroenke to put together leadership for his Nuggets and make a massive impact on his team.
The Nuggets have never even made an NBA Finals in their 37 years in the league, meaning Kroenke can leave a lasting legacy on the franchise by doing just that.
But first, he must make the right hire(s).
