The Denver Nuggets have agreed on a deal to make David Adelman the franchise’s next head coach, sources told ESPN.
Adelman went 3-0 in regular season after taking over as the interim replacement for Michael Malone and then won a playoff series, leading Denver past the LA Clippers in seven games. The Nuggets ultimately fell one win short of the Western Conference finals, losing to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 in the conference semifinals.
Nuggets officials were impressed with Adelman’s work under the circumstances this season, and moved swiftly to give him the full-time job, sources said. Denver will take a period of time to sort through the decision on a full-time general manager, according to sources.
Nuggets team governor Josh Kroenke, who made the decision to fire Malone and GM Calvin Booth last month, expressed enthusiastic appreciation for the team’s response under Adelman, saying Sunday that it was “the most proud I’ve been,” aside from the franchise’s championship in 2023.
Adelman, who turned 44 last week, had developed good relationships with Denver’s core players during his eight seasons as an assistant coach before Malone was fired. Veteran forward Aaron Gordon said Adelman “was excellent for us, and I hope that he’s here next year,” while superstar center Nikola Jokic said Adelman “made us believe something, and we played good.”
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon contributed to this report.
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