It’s no secret the Nuggets have been in the rebuilding stage, maybe as far back to the firing of George Karl in 2013.
Denver then brought in Brian Shaw, but things didn’t pan out so well with management wanting to bring more of a defensive mindset to the team. The Nuggets have always played the fast-paced, streaky style of basketball and were rarely seen scoring in the half-court sets.
Mike D’Antoni, a former Denver assistant and previous coach of the year in the 2005-06 season with the Suns, may be a prime candidate for Nuggets’ head coaching vacancy. D’Antoni is widely known for his offensive strategy and has the wins to show for it. He took the Phoenix Suns to the NBA playoffs five of the six years he was there and as far as the Western Conference Finals three times.
According to a Yahoo Sports report, D’Antoni sat down with the Nuggets GM Tim Conelly on Tuesday in Los Angeles to discuss a possible head coaching job — we presume. A sit-down, less formal then an interview usually allows both parties to be a bit more comfortable discussing sensitive issues such as money, among others.
Whenever D’Antoni has been head coach, he usually likes to be the head man in charge. Meaning having complete and total control of the roster as well as in-game strategies. Denver needs a man that will come in and have the confidence that he can help rebuild a team that has great talent but still missing something more.
D’Antoni has also been involved in his fair share of disasters. His time with New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers he didn’t end well. He was stuck with players that didn’t fit into his schemes.
This may be the most opportune time for the Nuggets to hire a coach who can bring back playoff success to Denver. The Nuggets have stated they’d like to try and fill the head coaching vacancy before the NBA Draft on June 25.
As of now, interim coach Melvin Hunt still remains the front-runner for the last head coaching position in the NBA.
