The Denver Nuggets found themselves just one victory shy of returning to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in three seasons. With a prime opportunity to advance, they instead fell short to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now they’ll shift their focus to the offseason.
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Looking ahead, Denver faces several key decisions, and change could be looming. Among the top priorities is determining the future of interim head coach David Adelman and whether the organization will retain him moving forward.
Adelman was given the interim tag after the Nuggets suspended Michael Malone with about a week left in the regular season. They deemed the decision necessary, and it almost paid off for them.
Although Adelman did what he could to upgrade his title, it’s still unclear whether the Nuggets will give him the head coach tag. However, many of the team’s key players would love for Adelman to return to the sideline.
Nuggets forward Michael Porter Jr. didn’t hesitate to share how he feels about Adelman.
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“I’m hoping Adelman gets the job,” said Porter.
Nuggets’ other forward Aaron Gordon also wants the 44-year-old coach back.
“I love D.A.,” he said. “I hope he’s here next year. I hope he’s our coach. I hope he gets an entire training camp, and a whole offseason, and a whole training camp to figure out his philosophy.”
Denver’s star guard, Jamal Murray, is another who is a fan of the interim head coach.
“I think he did a great job, considering everything,” Murray said.
“How we had to stay together, the different schemes that he came up with, AG (Gordon) batting through everything, Jok (Nikola Jokić battling through) everything, bench stepping up, all in all, guys staying with it and keeping a positive attitude in what we can do.”
Adelman was asked whether he deserved the gig full-time. However, that was the furthest thing from his mind after the tough loss.
“I don’t think it’s time for me to think about that,” Adelman said. “We just lost Game Seven. Our season’s over. Decision makers will make that decision.
“Obviously, blessed to have this opportunity to take the helm and lead this team. It’s something obviously, if I’m not back next year, I’ll obviously never forget this. It’s been an incredible experience.
“To have the buy-in from the guys was really special for me.”
Adelman guided the Nuggets to a 3-3 finish over the final six games of the regular season. In the playoffs, he helped steer the team past the Los Angeles Clippers and pushed the top-seeded Thunder to the limit in a hard-fought second-round series.
He’s earned the respect of the locker room—now it remains to be seen if the front office shares that same confidence in him moving forward.
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