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It's approaching a year since the Denver Nuggets fired Calvin Booth and Michael Malone on the same day. It was a stunning move that ended the tenures of the GM and coach who delivered the franchise its first championship just two years earlier. The two clashed over how to build a roster after the title. Malone wanted veterans. Booth wanted to develop young players. They didn’t see eye to eye. They talked behind each other’s backs. And Nuggets president Josh Kroenke had enough of the tension consuming the organization. “I think we both would admit a lot of stuff is overblown,” Booth said on The Kevin O’Connor Show in an illuminating conversation that shows an ex-GM still processing what happened, still proud of what he built, and still waiting on the phone to ring.
"You could put 100 GMs in my position," he said. "I don't know what, three or four of them do as good as I did." Still, understanding the problem and solving it are different things. "When I get that title, it's not an option for me not to do my job," Booth said. "So I think one of the only outcomes where everybody thinks we're aligned is me submit, lay down, not do the job. And that's not an option for me. So some version of this was going to happen. Could have been quieter. Could have not grown legs with the media. Could have not been such a crawl in ownership's pants. Maybe there's some different things that could happen in that regard.”
Tas Melas: NBA front office executives or coaches I’ve seen at #EuroBasket: Bucks: Jon Horst, Doc Rivers, Darvin Ham. Lakers: Rob Pelinka, Jeanie Buss, Kurt Rambis. Trail Blazers: Chauncey Billups. Kings: BJ Armstrong, Doug Christie. Nuggets: Josh Kroenke.
By the way, it wasn’t just him jumping off the boat. They’ve been friends for a long time—oh yeah, obviously. And it was really weird during the mid-2010s. For those unfamiliar with the Nuggets’ underground layout—the tunnels beneath the arena—you’ve got a T-section that goes from the media room to the locker room, to the visitor locker room, and back to the arena. There’s an intersection there. I got hung up several times over the years because there was a stoppage of security, just because LeBron and Josh were sitting there talking. Just hanging out. And I was like, ‘Hey guys, I don’t actually care what rich things you’re talking about—I just want to go home. Just want to walk through, please. Just like to get through.’
Valančiūnas’ agent did open the door for the player to join Panathinaikos, explaining that for family reasons the player wishes to return to Europe, but he also complicated the situation by guaranteeing the release from the Nuggets without having previously discussed it thoroughly with them. His initiative made the situation harder; with better communication between the player and the Nuggets, it could have been resolved quickly. Panathinaikos was shocked when they realized that Kroenke was not informed about the matter; under these circumstances, it’s not surprising the Nuggets became angry and took the Lithuanian agent’s handling as disrespect.
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During an introductory press conference for the team’s newly named co-executive vice presidents in Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace, Kroenke stole the headlines with a poorly worded quote trying to explain the Nuggets’ aversion to the new second apron in the luxury tax. In it, he mentioned a hypothetical situation where the Nuggets would be forced to trade the three-time MVP. Kroenke’s employees say his comments were misrepresented. “I would just urge you to listen to the quote again, because if you listen to it, you will realize Josh didn’t say that, and we would never trade Nikola,” Tenzer said. “I would urge you to listen again, because that is not what was said,” Tenzer said when asked a follow-up.
When asked exactly what that role will be, he reiterated a recent comment that he wants to be more hands-on in periods of transition, then eventually to “let people do their jobs.” “My role with the Nuggets is not a daily one,” Kroenke said definitively. “So these guys, I’ll be checking in with them probably every few days, weekly. And then as the season starts, the cadence of those conversations changes based on kind of what’s going on. So I’m excited to get to work with these two guys. … I think they complement each other really well.”
The Nuggets are relying on a unique co-partnership approach between executive vice presidents Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace. It's a way to take advantage of their particular skill sets and elevate a team built around three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. "Most everything that has gotten us to this point has been unorthodox," Kroenke, the vice chairman Kroenke Sports and Entertainment and Nuggets team president, said Tuesday at a news conference to introduce his new front-office staff. "Our best player (Jokic) is the 41st pick -- in a very unorthodox manner, the way he plays the game. So everything about us is unorthodox."
“It was a fascinating one, because we really did every exercise looking through retaining him and what that meant under the new rules,” Kroenke was saying. “And I think that for us as an organization, going into that second apron is not necessarily something that we’re scared of.” Then the KSE vice chairman steered his comments in the direction of Jokic. “I think there are rules around (the second apron) that we needed to be very careful of (last year) with our injury history,” he said. “The wrong person gets injured, and very quickly you’re into a scenario that I never want to have to contemplate, and that’s trading No. 15.”
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In the same news conference Tuesday, Kroenke also addressed the star center becoming eligible for a new contract extension on July 8, even though he still has two years (and a player option for a third) remaining on his current deal. “We’re definitely going to offer it. I’m not sure if he’s going to accept it or not, because we’re also going to explain every financial parameter around him signing now versus signing later,” Kroenke said, alluding to the fact that Jokic will be eligible to sign for more money next summer if he prefers to wait. “To be completely transparent, that’s the way we always are. And then he makes the best decision for himself and his family, and we’ll support him in it.”
Ryan Blackburn: Asked Josh Kroenke on if Nikola Jokic will accept a contract extension this offseason: “We will offer it.” Said that it wasn’t certain whether he would accept it. They would go through the different options with Jokic and his agency to see what works best for him.
Ryan Blackburn: Josh Kroenke on the hiring of both Jon Wallace and Ben Tenzer in complementary roles: “Everything about us is unorthodox.” pic.x.com/ItHTsO37uV
Yet there is an anticipation now among some league observers that Nuggets vice chairman Josh Kroenke, with Tenzer and Wallace reporting to him, could increase his hands-on involvement in team-building matters. Kroenke said in a Monday news release that he and father Stan have "sought to re-imagine the Nuggets' front office" with the hires.