What happens if the Denver Nuggets fail to get as far in the upcoming postseason as they did last season? Considering the changes that were made (including the head coach), and that this team is much deeper off the bench and better-equipped to compete with teams like Oklahoma City and Minnesota, would this season then be considered a failure?
The Nuggets are not a well-coached team right now. If this season ends in “failure,” would the current head coach’s job be in danger?
To be fair, David Adelman has every chance to secure his job as the Nuggets head coach. All he has to do is make a deep playoff run this season with his now-healthy roster, and no one will be able to say that the Nuggets need new leadership. Even if they do.
Adelman was getting Coach of the Year mentions when his disabled roster was winning 10 of 16 games without his three-time MVP and most of his starting lineup. That talk has slowed to a crawl now after he got most of his players back, because most of Denver’s performances since have been unpredictable, to put it mildly, and oftentimes, unacceptable.
After beating Portland at home on Sunday, the Nuggets have won two consecutive games just twice this month. Having won five of their last seven, they still have a reasonable shot at 50 wins and a middling playoff seed in the loaded Western Conference. They could also lose enough games down the stretch to end up in the play-in tournament. Home court for even the first round is anything but a lock, as is advancing further than they did a season ago, when Adelman took over from Michael Malone with three games left in the regular season.
Bottom line: There isn’t much reason that this now-healthy Nuggets roster should not at least reach the third round if Adelman was a better choice to lead the team than Malone was.
The playoffs will tell us everything.
If they make that deep run, Adelman should be safe. If not, he should be replaced. And if Adelman is to be replaced, who could/should the Nuggets’ brass pursue?
They could dip into the pool of former head coaches, guys like Jeff Van Gundy, Scott Brooks and the like. They have more experience than Adelman, but are they necessarily better for this Nuggets team?
They could take a chance on an up-and-coming assistant coach, like San Antonio did with Mitch Johnson and Charlotte did with Charles Lee. But hiring someone with no prior head-coaching experience is always a crapshoot.
Perhaps they could think outside the box by asking three-time MVP Nikola Jokic his thoughts on the subject? Does the next Denver head coach have to be from the United States? Or could someone like the new head coach of the Serbian National team, Dusan Alimpijevic, be a solid choice?
That’s not a slam dunk either, of course. Unfortunately, Svetislav Pesic has retired, or the highly successful head man of past Serbian national teams (that Jokic played for) might be an option. Can you think of anyone who would connect with Joker better? Or someone who would make badly-needed changes to the Nuggets’ stale high-pick-and-roll, two-man offense?
Still, someone like Alimpijevic would not only bring out the very best in Joker (maybe a reduction in all the awful turnovers?), but also bring new life to a talented roster that oftentimes looks totally flat and aimless.
That definition of insanity that people like to quote? If the Nuggets make an early playoff exit – and can’t bring themselves to make some necessary changes – they will be doing the same thing next year and expecting a different result.
