Last year’s humiliation saved this season.
The embarrassment — firing the general manager and coach with three games left — should lead to another beautiful championship for the Nuggets.
Calvin Booth deserves apologies for his vision, and a thank you for his obsession with Michael Malone, leading to the dismissals of both men.
Perhaps you are not paying attention because the Broncos are preparing for the biggest playoff game in a decade. But the Nuggets remain a title contender, winning six of nine games in Nikola Jokic’s absence while featuring lineups from the island of misfit toys.
Players are growing up right before our eyes, evolving from one-trick ponies into offensive contributors and, in one case, an impact player. This stretch has shown that Booth had a keen eye as a scout. And that his single-minded pursuit to persuade ownership to take his side over Malone prevented him from recognizing that David Adelman could execute his blueprint.
The Nuggets are two weeks from becoming whole, as Jokic (hyperextended knee) returns to a lineup steadied by Jamal Murray’s leadership, and role players who have discovered their footing through opportunity.
Don’t get confused. Booth did not deserve to keep his job as GM, even though ownership was inclined to give him that chance if he accepted a lowball offer early last season.
Booth earned his pink slip with inactivity at the trade deadline, by including player options for Dario Saric and Russell Westbrook and sacrificing three second-round draft picks to dump Reggie Jackson’s salary on the Charlotte Hornets.
Those were mistakes. So, too, was Zeke Nnaji’s contract — he could still be tough to trade — and guaranteeing the first three years of rookie deals for Jalen Pickett and Hunter Tyson.
Booth, as Jay-Z would say, was not good at business, man.
He was a legit talent evaluator.
Teams rarely, if ever, receive significant contributions from late first-round picks. And yet, Peyton Watson (30th overall) is becoming a keeper and Christian Braun (21st overall), even as an ankle injury threatens to spoil this season, landed a second contract as a core player.
Booth was steadfast about his draft picks. He viewed the Nuggets like the Spurs, winning multiple titles over a long period of time as young players were incorporated into the culture. The problem is that he and Malone were not aligned on how to develop the kids, and the tick, tock, of Jokic’s prime framed everything with conflicting urgency.
By the end, frustration with both of them boiled over into every crevice of the organization. It is fair to wonder if Booth watches this Nuggets team and wishes he had connected himself at the hip with Adelman as he was trying to run Malone out of town.
Let’s be fair. Adelman was provided the veteran bench that Malone so desperately wanted — and needed, given his coaching style — in his final two seasons. And that reserve clause — Jonas Valanciunas, Tim Hardaway Jr., Bruce Brown — was made possible by the willingness of co-GMs Ben Tenzer and Jon Wallace to trade Michael Porter Jr., something Booth always seemed reluctant to consider.
Let’s also be real: Adelman is a creative offensive genius and his mellow Pacific Northwest vibes have been the perfect antidote to Michael Malone’s red-faced, Northeast edge.
Adelman has turned suspects into prospects.
The Nuggets are a terrific offensive team. That was only aways going to happen with Adelman pulling all the levers. But this is not about power. It is about humility.
Where Adelman has made his biggest difference is by not politicizing young players like Watson, Pickett and Nnaji. Malone seemed bent on proving to Booth they could not play, and sprinkled in their minutes so sparingly that it set them up to fail.
He wanted experience. Another championship. Like yesterday. Understandable. Not practical.
While forced into the situation because of a rash of injuries to Aaron Gordon, Cam Johnson, Braun and Jokic, Adelman has adopted a different approach. He shows no interest in playing the victim or wallowing in the “what could have been.”
Tracing back to his roots as a high school coach, he saw answers in adversity.
He expanded Watson’s role and integrated junior varsity players, if you will. He talked openly and realistically about holding a top-six seed without Jokic. In trying to win some games, he has nearly won all of them.
The Nuggets woke up Thursday with the second-best record in the West.
This did not happen by luck or accident.
Adelman, who gained trust as a longtime assistant before his promotion, empowered the players to lean into their individual strengths within the team concept. And he got complete buy-in from future All-Star Jamal Murray, who is scoring, yes, but making the right passes as often as Jokic.
It freed Pickett to deliver an unforgettable performance against the 76ers.
It made Nnaji aggressive as he scored in double figures in four consecutive games on the trip.
And Watson has blossomed in startling ways. There are suggestions that this is a mirage. But every time he creates his own shot and shows better his ball-handling skills, it becomes obvious that the Nuggets must consider how to keep him as a restricted free agent, either by entering the second apron or trading Johnson.
Booth saw Watson’s potential. And when he did not play in the Game 7 loss to Minnesota two years ago, it highlighted the chasm between the GM and Malone.
Adelman appears ready to embrace what Watson has become. If he can weave this version of the 23-year-old into the Jokic-Murray fabric, the Nuggets, health willing, will win a championship.
It will validate Booth, the scout. And Adelman, the coach.
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