Despite the team’s problems, the Nuggets still have a playoff roster when healthy.īut there are big questions ahead for Denver, ones it’ll now have to answer without Connelly. I would be surprised if he didn’t sign his extension. It’s one of the best cities in America in one of the country’s most beautiful states. But many of the other people around Jokic could change if he signs another deal. Michael Malone has been Denver’s head coach since 2015 and just signed a new contract through the 2024-25 season, which would be the second of a potential Jokic extension. “I really like the people who work here.” “If offer’s on the table of course I’m gonna accept it because I really like the organization,” Jokic said after the Nuggets lost in the first round. Jokic is eligible for a five-year contract extension this summer that will be worth around $250 million, the largest supermax extension in league history. The greatest years in the history of Nuggets basketball, led by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, have been unseen by many people in the area who need to resort to finding streams online or catching glimpses on national TV. To make matters worse, the 2021-22 season was the third in a row in which fans were unable to watch Nuggets games locally on Comcast, the most popular cable provider in Colorado. What kind of president walks away from a franchise player who just won back-to-back MVPs? One that works for an organization not making the necessary investment in itself to be on par with other franchises. The team still trains in one of the league’s oldest practice facilities, while others work out in state-of-the-art buildings. And they were also one of the last franchises to acquire a G League affiliate. The Nuggets have one of the league’s smallest front offices. Denver’s ownership, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, has a long history of pinching pennies for coaches and executives. Past success doesn’t guarantee the same for the future. But Karnisovas left for Chicago in 2020 and now Connelly is gone. Connelly and his right-hand man, Arturas Karnisovas, built some great Nuggets teams, including the current core that has made four consecutive postseasons. Now, history is repeating itself, with the Timberwolves poaching Connelly and signing him to a five-year, $40 million deal with ownership equity, while reportedly elevating assistant GM Calvin Booth into the head honcho role.ĭenver’s decision with Ujiri ended up working out. Denver ownership didn’t even compete to retain him, instead hiring Tim Connelly, then a young assistant general manager with the Pelicans, to take over. Back in 2013, Masai Ujiri was running the Nuggets front office and had just won Executive of the Year when the Raptors offered him a huge raise.
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