Oh, hello there! It may be NFL season and the first week is near
complete; but there’s always some NBA news somewhere down the
pipeline. Offseason is ending as training camp awaits in a few weeks.
But… the Denver Nuggets may have some turmoil brewing and it
doesn’t appear to be good. Head coach Mike Malone and the front
office hasn’t been on good terms. After leading Denver to its first
championship in 2023, rewarding considering they had to
breakthrough. With being a champion comes bigger expectations of
repeating the following season.
Upon the conclusion of this year’s playoffs, Malone had said his team
was tired. It comes with territory playing into June and hardly any
offseason. When you talk a big game about being the “Lakers daddy”
and all this nonsense, teams retool to beat you. Now, the team has
reached its apex and with the addition of Russell Westbrook, we have
issues.
You see Mike Malone, there’s a ceiling and price to pay when winning is
contagious. The front office signed Westbrook after being waived by
the stepchild Los Angeles Clippers and thought: “we want to bring him
in and back-up Jamal Murray.” Did they need your approval? No, it’s
about competing and keeping pace with your competition. Fans know
Westbrook’s play hasn’t evolved by any means. As a head coach,
there’s concerns as to how the fit and scheme will mesh with Nikola
Jokic. Credit Murray has been hurt the last couple years, but what is a
high risk gamble will have ripple effects. You as the coach have every
reason to worry about your security. Just like former Lakers head coach
Darvin Ham, Clippers head coach Ty Lue and now you’re stuck with
trying to figure out what’ll work for your roster.
The turmoil within Denver’s front office will break with Westbrook
falling out with Malone. This movie has the same script and ending,
which we’ve seen multiple times in the last four seasons. Malone will
grow tired of adjusting to Westbrook to a point it’ll destroy what team
chemistry is there with the core of Murray, Jokic, Gordon and Porter Jr.
If the objective is winning, this won’t work by any means, and someone
must take the fall of another failed experiment.
Mike Malone, welcome to the dog days of being an NBA coach, where
the turnstile of rosters is active like no other. It was all fun and games a
season ago, but now reality sets in and trying to see eye to eye with
your front office has no filter. How many games will it take before
you’re fired or resign? The season hasn’t started yet and already an
avalanche of turmoil is on the verge of falling. You won’t be able to
withstand higher media scrutiny coaching Russell Westbrook in 2025.
Stai tuned.
