Five Mistakes The Denver Nuggets Made This Season

June 25, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets president Josh Kroenke speaks during a press conference held at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Change in Management and Coaching Team

In a report by Denverstiffs.com on June 6, 2013, it said:

“It’s becoming more and more clear that the Nuggets young owner Josh Kroenke wants to make his own mark on the franchise he has taken over from his father, Stan. After all, Kroenke inherited Karl and now that he has lost his closest cohort in Ujiri, Kroenke likely wants to bring in a management and coaching team built directly by him.”

And that exactly happened as George Karl was fired as coach and GM Ujiri moved to Toronto.

ESPN had this report on May 31,2013:

“Denver has a history of paying its front-office architects below-market salaries, from Kiki Vandeweghe to Mark Warkentien and Ujiri, who was one of the league’s lowest paid GMs with an annual salary south of $1 million. The Nuggets could look to Pete D’Allesandro, Ujiri’s right-hand man in Denver, to take his boss’ place, but he might also follow Ujiri to Toronto.”

And as for George Karl, Yahoo Sports had this to say:

“Nuggets ownership wasn’t ready to fulfill Karl’s request for a contract extension, and the team didn’t want an “unhappy” Karl serving out the last year of his contract in 2013-14.”

And this from the same report of Yahoo Sports:

“After winning 57 games and earning the third seed in the Western Conference, the Nuggets lost to the underdog Warriors in the first round of the playoffs. Denver was outplayed and outcoached over the course of the six-game series, and Karl in particular drew blame for the defeat.”

Right after winning the Coach of the Year award, George Karl was fired by the Nuggets, presumably because of their early exit in the 2013 playoffs. But if this was the case, management did not take into consideration that Gallinari was injured, which added to their woes.

Karl amassed a record of 423-257 with the Nuggets and took them to 9 straight postseason appearances. He was, along with Doug Moe, considered as the best coaches in Denver Nuggets history.

Perhaps management had other plans, but the exit of the two architects of the team’s best season ever might have signaled a rebuilding process under the young Kroenke. Obviously, that has backfired, because the first hire was Brian Shaw, and look at what a mess he’s made with the Denver Nuggets thus far.