With most of the NBA’s heavy lifting done for this offseason, the Nuggets moved on to making some smaller moves as they revamped the staff for their G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold. Previous head coach and former Nugget, Andre Miller, is out as coach, with Nuggets assistant Ryan transitioning to head coach of the Gold.
The Gold have also hired Chad Iske as GM, Nihal Kolur as assistant GM, and Matthew Tynes as director of G League operations and scouting. This continues a summer full of changes across the board for the organization as they’ve now changed the head coach and GM at the NBA and G League levels in one offseason.
The Denver Nuggets have made several changes to their G League affiliate, Grand Rapids Gold. Ryan Bowen will be head coach, Chad Iske will be general manager, Nihal Kolur will be assistant general manager, and Matthew Tynes will be director of G League operations and scouting.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) August 6, 2025
Bowen was a former Nuggets player who has been an assistant coach for the past ten years. With Michael Malone leaving and David Adelman taking the head gig, it makes perfect sense for Bowen to move east and take over the Gold.
G League roster will become increasingly important for Nuggets
With the Nuggets being all in to win now, and having sacrificed first and second round draft picks as far into the future as 2032, developing young, unheralded players in Grand Rapids will become more critical than ever.
Denver’s roster is going to be very expensive and top-heavy for the foreseeable future. As Nikola Jokic and other key players age, and with minimal assets and draft equity to go big game hunting, the Nuggets are going to have to hit on the margins.
To keep this run going as long as possible, they are going to have to find value and get creative. There’s no better way to do that than by crushing the scouting and development game. If they can target players who fit the system and work on their game in the G League, these guys could eventually come to Denver as contributors on value contracts.
Sure, they are unlikely to find the next superstar playing in the G League, but they already have the best player on the planet. They just need role players they can keep plugging into the system once older and/or more expensive players move on.
Right now, the cupboards look barren beyond the current NBA roster, but this overhaul of the G League system may come with a shift in focus. If they can correctly navigate that market and target the right players who fit the system, this could be a major advantage for the franchise that helps extend the title window by years.