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“Wait! Wait! How can we speak with the general manager? We’re unreasonably interested in acquiring Zeke Nnaji”
If your call is finished, please hang up…
“Wait! Waiiiiiit!”
Far-fetched? Well, not exactly. It’s a fact: Anyone hoping to bend the ear of the real-deal GM of the Nuggets has been waiting on hold longer than their last call with Comcast Customer Support. Or, since April 8, to be exact.
Sure, the Denver Nuggets don’t have a pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, which, as the calendar reveals, is less than a week away. Perhaps, for anyone holding the title of general manager in Denver, there’s not much to do during this particular week. Maybe some office cleaning. File organizing. Catching up on emails – that sort of thing.
Then again, if the Nuggets wish to do what was once considered impossible for a flyover NBA city – again – there’s plenty of work to do. Plus, what if some GM for some other team has concocted some multi-team deal that somehow includes a current Denver Nugget and his salary, a random number that oddly becomes the only way the whole thing can work?
“Pick up the phone! We desperately need Zeke Nnaji and his ridiculous contract! Pick up! Pick up!”
Nobody’s home.
With all due respect to Ben Tenzer, the Nuggets’ interim GM that sees (literally and hopefully) eye-to-eye with David Adelman, the entire situation is approaching embarrassing, if not incompetent.
What in the H-E-double-toothpicks are the Nuggets doing?
In the most gossip-y league in sports, there have been no leaks. The rumor mill is as quiet as Josh Kroenke himself. There’s not a single agent popping off. When it comes to the NBA, no news is – as a general rule of thumb – no news. Nothings seems to be happening with regard to the Nuggets general manager position.
If Tenzer is indeed going to become the GM, why not say so? Are we to assume the silence is an indication of a long and thorough, air-tight search?
The only hint of a search was the strange announcement that Tommy Balcetis – the Nuggets assistant general manager, a 12-year Nuggets front office veteran and Harvard analytics guru who came up alongside Tim Connelly – would not be retained by the team, much less be considered for the job of GM. While there’s a subtle eyeroll that comes along with promotion from within, those who follow the Nuggets closely generally consider(ed) Balcetis to be one of the sharpest minds in the organization. Many – anonymously or otherwise – might suggest that Balcetis is more qualified to become the Nuggets GM than Tenzer. Doesn’t matter now, as Balcetis has officially been ruled out.
The decision to not even keep Balcetis on staff, regardless of who earns the title of GM, potentially suggests one of two things – either more internal dysfunction, or the possibility that an all-new general manager has already been hired and might prefer to select his own staff.
Is Josh Kroenke about to pull a rabbit out of his hat, surprising everyone in the NBA and somehow keeping big news from hitting the headlines? If so, then why wait? The clock is ticking on everything surrounding the Nuggets. The draft. The title window. The prime of arguably the most dominant athlete ever to come through these parts.
The biggest name on the GM market – or so it would appear – is former Warriors GM and current ESPN analyst Bob Myers, who has four rings of his own. There’s no doubt that hiring Myers would make a major splash. In many ways, he makes the most sense and the Nuggets could make sense for him. The two-time NBA Executive of the Year pairing with the three-time NBA MVP? It certainly has a nice ring(s) to it, regardless of the Nuggets roster challenges. Then again, Myers will most certainly command a luxurious price tag. It’s not that the Kroenke Family couldn’t afford him; it’s that spending big on executives or coaches has never been the model at 1000 Chopper Circle. The Lakers were just purchased for $10 billion by the same guy that keeps Dick Monfort up at night by owning MLB’s Dodgers; meanwhile, the Nuggets look like their kicking tires at Myers’ used car lot over what ultimately looks like pennies in the context of the NBA.
Then again, we don’t actually know what’s happening or already happened.
Who knows? Perhaps Myers is already under contract; perhaps he’s just keeping quiet until the broadcast season and pick-less draft is over. Then, he can get to work on getting Nikola Jokic that second ring. Or maybe Myers knows exactly what everyone else knows – which is nothing when it comes to the Nuggets GM search.
Former GM Calvin Booth left the Nuggets with a big, big mess. Cleaning it up – for whoever gets the gig – won’t be an easy task.
Days matter, don’t they?
They sure do. And whether the selection is Tenzer, Myers or someone else entirely, it’s quite possible that the Nuggets new GM is already hard at work, incognito, of course.
Here’s hoping that the GM hire makes a big splash and not a big thud. And perhaps more importantly, whatever – and whoever – happens before you read this.
In the words of the honorable Judge Smails: Well… we’re waiting.
Surprise or Thud: The Denver Nuggets GM search remains a mystery Mile High Sports.
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