Report: Nuggets look at experienced assistant for David Adelman’s staff

The Nuggets want to add an experienced voice to David Adelman’s bench, according to a report.

The Stein Line reported Denver is seeking to install a former NBA head coach as a top assistant — a move the Nuggets inexplicably didn’t make before Adelman’s rookie season last summer. That year ended with a first-round flameout against a banged-up Wolves squad, with Ball Arena fans booing the home team before an elimination game.

Adelman’s staff skews young and idea-heavy, headlined by Jared Dudley, J.J. Barea, Mike Moser, Chase Buford and Rodney Billups.

“I have full faith in Coach Adelman,” voice of ownership Josh Kroenke said earlier this offseason. “I think he coached a hell of a season, all things considered.”

The trick is finding a veteran who can help Adelman without threatening a coach ownership insists isn’t on the hot seat.

“This isn’t an organization that makes changes like we made last year lightly,” Kroenke said, referring to the 2025 firing of Michael Malone. “The quote from myself last year was that we needed to reinvent ourselves, but not reinvent the wheel. And I think we did that in a lot of ways. I want to give credit to, one, DA, and then (the front office) for pressing a lot of the right buttons last summer to turn the page without fully breaking apart a true championship team.”

The Stein Line also reported the club has already interviewed former Kings coach Dave Joerger. Other names worth watching: former Blazers coach Terry Stotts, former Lakers coach Frank Vogel and former Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. A Tom Thibodeau-led defense paired with Adelman’s high-powered offense would be fun — but it’s hard to see the former Knicks coach taking a right-hand job.

“While we’re very proud that we won 54 games, I’m most proud of that stretch (in January), the way the coaching staff was without Nikola,” Kroenke said. “When Nikola is on your roster, you should be winning 50 games probably. So that’s a great accomplishment in most NBA circles, but for us, that’s where we expect to be. And we expect to be even higher. I thought if this group was healthy, this could be a 60-, 65-win team.”

Consider the pressure Nikola Jokic is putting on the front office, and Denver’s fiscal squeeze as it stares down the second apron for a team that won two playoff games. The coaching staff is one place ownership could spend without luxury-tax worry — but Kroenke said the group prefers to keep its money on the court.

Either way, the Nuggets may finally bring Adelman some help — even if it’s a year late and just a band-aid on a staff that bled out with a whimper.