On Wednesday, the Denver Nuggets renewed their commitment to head coach Michael Malone in a move that seemed motivated more by expectations than logic.
The NBA has a tacit policy forbidding lame duck head coaches. Almost without exception, teams refuse to enter a season with a coach in the final year of his contract. Teams want stability and aligned incentives to demonstrate that good work is rewarded internally.
This de facto policy creates peer pressure, though. Even when it makes sense for a team to let its coach play out one more year then take it from there, it feels compelled to do something, because no team wants to be alone with a coach fighting for his job.
The pressure of convention certainly played a role in the latest news for the Denver Nuggets:
The #Nuggets announce they have extended coach Michael Malone’s contract. Well deserved for a coach who has led a vast team improvement in the last 3 seasons.
— Chris Dempsey (@chrisadempsey) October 17, 2018
Michael Malone has often been the subject of criticism throughout his three-year tenure in Denver, highlighted by a loud minority’s incessant calls for his job down the stretch in 2017-18. Malone has his faults, but Denver’s failure to make the playoffs last season was not nearly as much on Malone as some fans wanted, and far more symptomatic of structural issues and happenstance. Thirst for Malone’s blood was always unwarranted.
It still is. Malone is not a revolutionary or visionary. He is not Gregg Popovich. He is not Brad Stevens. He is not Steve Kerr. Malone is, however, not of the Jason Kidd or Byron Scott mold, the type of coach who hinders development, hampers on-court production, and must go. For now, he is fine.
If that doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement though, that’s because it isn’t. For as much as players, members of the organization and media like Malone, for as much as they swear by and defend him, he’s never coached a Denver defense to a finish better than 21st in defensive rating, and he’s never guided a team to the playoffs.
If Denver finds its way to the playoffs — like it should — come April, the Malone extension will probably look fine. The Nuggets would officially and materially be on the rise. Two more years of Malone wouldn’t look so bad.
But if things don’t go according to plan, if the Nuggets disappoint and the playoffs prove elusive again, Denver will have backed itself into quite the corner. If April rolls around and the Nuggets’ season is over, the team will likely have a coach in need of replacement, yet he’ll have two more years on his contract.
In that very conceivable situation, what does management do? Ownership demonstrated its…emphasis on frugality this offseason with various cost-cutting maneuvers that damaged the on-court product. Faced with a group that has clearly reached its ceiling with its current coach, would it be at all reasonable to have faith in ownership making the sensible move, swallowing two years of a brand new contract extension and publicly admitting mistake?
In an environment in which the lame duck coach is frowned upon, the Denver Nuggets should have bucked convention. Head coach Michael Malone is surely deserving of one more shot at elevating the Nuggets in 2018-19, but beyond that, it’s unclear if he is the man to captain Denver’s ship. By extending Malone and attempting to add stability, the Nuggets have brought nothing but more questions.