It feels like we were just having this “who is going to be the next coach of the Denver Nuggets” discussion. Oh yeah, that’s right! We had this conversation less than two years ago!
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Now, going through three coaches in two years (including interim and current head coach Melvin Hunt) after firing the reigning Coach of the Year isn’t exactly what the Nuggets had in mind. Yes, letting George Karl go now looks like a terrible move, but even if we made the playoffs the last two years, I’m not sure any of us could take two more heartbreaking first-round exits.
So now we’re here. The Denver Nuggets are heading into the offseason — coachless — and coming off a season where they finished 22 games under .500. Lucky for them, a coach who may be the perfect fit may have just hit the market.
Scott Brooks was fired by the Oklahoma City Thunder Wednesday, after going 338-207 in seven seasons with the Thunder. Under Brooks, the Thunder made the playoffs for five straight seasons, and made it to the NBA Finals in 2012, where they lost to the Miami Heat.
Seeeeeee? The Nuggets aren’t that crazy for firing George Karl after all! It is the NBA so we know coaches go in and out like a revolving door, and the Nuggets were apparently banking on the fact that a big name would become available for the team to go after. It if it wasn’t Scott Brooks, it would have been Tom Thibodeau.
So it looks like the Nuggets, despite reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports that Alvin Gentry, Michael Malone, Scott Skiles, Portland assistant David Vanterpool, Florida head coach Billy Donovan, and Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg are all candidates, are really coming into a three-horse race for the next coach who can hopefully lead the team back to winning season.
(I would say playoffs, but lets take it step by step).
This race is really between Scott Brooks, Mike D’Antoni, and interim head coach Melvin Hunt. The Nuggets next head coach will be one of those three gentlemen, and it’s up to general manager Tim Connelly and “team president” Josh Kroenke to decide just which one will be the best fit for their current roster and what they envision in the future.
Mike D’Antoni already has a solid relationship with a lot of the current Nuggets players. He coached Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler when they were Knicks, and he is the guy who loved Danilo’s shot sooooo much he told reporters that Gallinari was “the best shooter I’ve ever seen.” Not to mention, Ty Lawson running a seven seconds or less offense sounds pretty appealing.
Nugg Love
He’s also coached in Denver before, so he knows how to use the mile high home court advantage.
Scott Brooks is a George Karl disciple. He’s a coach with a winning record, playoff experience, and is respected around the NBA. Kevin Durant signed off on his coaching ability on his Instagram Wednesday, and he was an assistant coach in Denver from 2003-06. He managed to earn his Thunder job after coaching the second half of the season as an interim coach in 2008-09.
Then we have Melvin Hunt. The interim coach who brought life back into the Nuggets, the Pepsi Center, and who made Nuggets basketball worth watching again. He knows the roster, as he’s been an assistant on the Nuggets bench since before Brian Shaw, and he’s got the respect of the Nuggets players (who in fact have publicly supported him).
He’s earned the job, and the fans want him back as well.
It’s a three-horse race for head coach, but even with the new competition, Melvin Hunt is waiting in the prize stable.
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