The Denver Nuggets have hung onto Michael Malone since 2015, and have seen their team turn around tremendously. That’s why his job security with the Nuggets is solid.
The Denver Nuggets have done a solid job of assembling a talented roster over the last five years. Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, and Paul Millsap have led a core of players that are hungry and eager to advance further in the playoffs.
Denver’s heart-wrenching loss to the Trail Blazers in the conference semifinals last season was a blow, but by no means a blemish on the resume of Michael Malone. Malone’s team has clearly bought into what he is selling, in ways the Sacramento Kings didn’t when he was the man at the helm in 2013-2014.
Going forward, Malone’s contract holds him in Denver through the 2022-2023 season after he and the Nuggets agreed to an extension in 2019. Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said, “We are all extremely excited for him to continue to lead our team as we try to build a championship-level organization.”
While they haven’t gotten all the way there, the Nuggets are closer than they have been since the days of George Karl and have a young, growing roster. Under Malone’s leadership, the Nuggets won their first playoff series since 2009, when they dispatched the Spurs in seven games.
Steady coaching has been absent in Denver for years. In fact, if Malone stays with the team through the duration of his extended contract, it will put him third on the team’s all-time list of seasons coached behind only George Karl and Doug Moe. Malone is already tied with Nuggets legend Dan Issel for the best postseason win percentage among all Nuggets coaches with five or more seasons.
To go along with his strong rapport with his players and management, Malone’s team clearly has an upward trajectory that earned him enough praise from the NBA community to have him as the coach for the western conference in the 2019 all-star game.
Often times, overreaching and desperate owners will pull the plug on a coach after one single disappointing playoff defeat, especially for teams that have not enjoyed previous championship success. But Malone has his team in position to terrorize the western conference for years to come.
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