David Adelman is cleaning house.
On Friday, Senior NBA Insider Chris Haynes reported that the Nuggets' new head coach is looking for some new faces as he compiles his 2025-2026 coaching staff.
While it isn't shocking to see Adelman make some adjustments to a coaching staff that Michael Malone assembled, it is a little surprising to see that none of the four coaches were retained, especially because all four were a part of Denver's 2023 title run.
The Michael Malone era is official over
The city of Denver will forever be grateful to Michael Malone and his staff for everything they did to make the Nuggets a champion. Those coaches all played a role in turning a franchise that was once an irrelevant doormat into a yearly contender. But now, David Adelman is the last coach from Malone's staff still standing, and he has decided to go in a different direction.
The departure of Ryan Saunders was probably the least surprising of the four. Saunders, who was Denver's quote-on-quote defensive coordinator, was clearly unable to push a lot of the right buttons this year, as Denver finished with a horrendous 116 defensive rating in the regular season. A new voice and approach will hopefully be rejuvenating for a group that looked hopeless guarding the ball most of last year.
Stephan Graham has been a player development coach for Denver for almost a decade, and helped oversee the improvement of guys like Nikola Jokic, Gary Harris, Jamal Murray, Monte Morris, Michael Porter Jr., and Christian Braun, all of whom Denver was able to draft and develop into successful NBA players.
But despite the success Graham helped produce, he's also had some failures. Denver drafted guys like Malik Beasley, Isaiah Harkenstein, and Jarred Vanderbilt, who (outside of Beasley in 2018-2019) have had minimal impacts in Nuggets uniforms and are now thriving on other teams. If the Nuggets are going to rely on internal development to maximize the abilities of Julian Strawther, Zeke Nnaji, Jalen Pickett, Hunter Tyson, and DaRron Holmes II, it was probably wise to move in a different direction.
While it is unclear who Adelman will hire to help coach next year's team, it is clear that Adelman isn't afraid to shake things up. Which, for Nuggets fans who are anxious for signs of progress after consecutive postseason failures, should be a good thing.
Despite minimal prep and a banged-up roster, Adelman fully showcased his talents for X's and O's during this year's postseason. Whether it was whizzing up out-of-the-box defensive zones or running creative offensive sets to free up Jokic from the incessant swarms of double and triple teams, Adelman proved his mettle.
Now, he needs to build a staff that sees the game the way he does, and a long-toothed veteran coach who can help him navigate the complexities of running the show wouldn't hurt either. As Adelman searches for a group of assistants that can help get Jokic and company over the hump, the Denver Nuggets have officilly turned the page into a brand new era.