One of the first dominoes of Denver’s offseason has fallen.
The Nuggets have removed the interim tag on coach David Adelman and given him the job full time, a team source confirmed on Thursday. ESPN first reported the news.
Adelman took the role on an interim basis after Denver fired head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth late in the season. He coached the final three games of the regular season and through two rounds of the postseason, which ended for Denver on Sunday with a Game 7 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In that short time frame, Adelman more than proved himself worthy of the job. He received a sharp endorsement from players such as Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. after Denver was eliminated from the postseason. His ability to galvanize a roster that was teetering on the brink of emotional detachment went a long way toward saving a season that was heading toward disappointment.
His adjustments in Denver’s first-round series win over the LA Clippers proved enormous. When the Clippers defensively bottled up star center Nikola Jokić with double teams early in the series, Adelman had Jokić operate from the sides of the floor, rather than the middle of the floor, so he could see where the doubles were coming from. When the Nuggets needed energy from their bench in their second-round series against OKC, Adelman inserted Julian Strawther into his rotation, and Strawther responded with a 15-point Game 6 that helped force Game 7.
Most of all, Adelman presented himself as a strong voice at the head of the organization. He showed confidence and leadership. He owned every decision, even the ones that didn’t work, such as his choice to play Jokić for the entire second half of Game 5, which ended with the Thunder rallying for the win that forever changed the series.
Adelman is the son of former NBA head coach Rick Adelman. He is a former high school basketball teammate of Golden State Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr. He has been around the game his entire life, and now gets the chance to lead a roster that features one of the greatest players of this generation.
(Photo: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)
