When Josh Kroenke made the unprecedented decision to fire his general manager and head coach with just three games left in the regular season, he sent a clear message: Calvin Booth and Michael Malone’s “cold war” created a toxic work environment so poisonous that the Kroenke family’s stubbornly patient approach finally reached its breaking point.
Both Booth and Malone wanted to win, but they were not on the same page about how to do so. Booth prioritized inexpensive young talent, trading Denver’s future assets to add young talent to the mix, while Malone demanded win-now veterans to help win basketball games, often refusing to play Booth’s preferred youthful players. An incongruous approach, for sure.
Even worse, despite the late-season organizational housecleaning, the Nuggets’ next general manager will inherit the same difficult puzzle that challenged their predecessor: Lacking flexibility.
The Punitive New CBA
The 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBPA and the NBA essentially traps championship-caliber teams in a cage with a padlock of second-apron penalties.
Jokic and his maximum contract take up a lot of space but aren’t going anywhere. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. were signed to their generous max deals before the new CBA began. Aaron Gordon’s four-year, $133-million extension kicks in next year. And Christian Braun earned himself a big raise for his Most Improved Player-caliber season. Heck, even Zeke Nnaji is the team’s fifth-highest-paid player.
Complicating the issue, the Nuggets already sacrificed depth (Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) to keep the core intact. Now, there are no clear ways to meaningfully improve the roster without removing a core piece from that cage.
I’d hope every GM candidate walking into that interview room knows the deal, understanding that Denver’s championship window is only partially defined by Jokic’s age or health — it’s also handcuffed by the second apron penalties that make roster improvements nearly impossible without some creativity.
And that brings us to the question that should dominate every single interview.
The Make-or-Break Question
“How will you steward the rest of Nikola Jokic’s prime?”
Forget the table stakes questions about team philosophy or organizational culture. Jokic is a generational, once-in-a-century superstar whose brilliance cannot be taken for granted by this franchise. Maximizing his time in the Mile High City remains the defining challenge of the next handful of years, and Josh Kroenke needs to hear specifics. Not platitudes. Not generic GM-speak.
He needs a legitimate roadmap for navigating the most restrictive salary cap environment in NBA history while the franchise’s generational talent enters his early thirties.
The ex-GM’s approach failed spectacularly, and not because of any draft picks or trades. Booth failed to effectively collaborate with his head coach while managing an increasingly complex salary cap situation. Kroenke must understand that asking specifically about Jokic’s remaining championship window can separate contending candidates from actual problem-solvers.
What Should Josh Kroenke Want to Hear?
The right GM candidate won’t panic when confronted with the Nuggets’ financial constraints. Instead, they’ll demonstrate some crucial competencies beyond strategic player development, savvy veteran finds, and trade ingenuity.
Denver’s next GM should articulate exactly how the Nuggets can operate within the new CBA’s harsh framework. Can they explain solutions for deftly navigating second-apron penalties? Do they thoroughly understand the myriad restrictions at play when operating over the second apron? Steering the franchise back to success demands more than just basic salary cap mechanics.
With traditional roster-building approaches out the window, the next GM needs to be a magician with limited resources. They should discuss how to maximize value from minimum contracts, two-way players to eat regular-season minutes, and the few exceptions still available to second-apron teams.
But as you might’ve guessed, I believe organizational harmony is the most important qualification of all. Booth’s inability to align Malone with his vision created dysfunction that filtered down through the entire organization. The next GM must demonstrate emotional intelligence and collaborative leadership, skills that matter more than basketball acumen when you’re managing egos and expectations during a compressed championship window.
Keeping the Championship Window Open
Every GM candidate needs to understand that Joker will be 30 when the 2025-26 season tips off. His prime isn’t infinite, and the Nuggets’ financial flexibility won’t magically improve until the current CBA environment shifts or major contracts expire (or are dealt away).
The Nuggets’ next GM will ultimately determine whether Nikola Jokic’s generational talent results in multiple championships or becomes a cautionary tale about how difficult winning is in the NBA.
To me, the next hire must thrive under constraints, excel at collaboration, and understand that stewarding Jokic’s prime means maximizing every single asset, relationship, and opportunity during this, the franchise’s “golden era.”
Josh Kroenke has one chance to get this right. The questions he asks in those interviews will determine whether Denver capitalizes further on having the best player in basketball on the team.
If a GM candidate can’t answer convincingly, they don’t deserve the job.