Just as quickly as he was considered by many to be out of the running for the job, Michael Malone has reportedly been named the new head coach of the Denver Nuggets.
Multiple sources are acknowledging the hire.
The Denver Nuggets have reached an agreement to hire Michael Malone as coach, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 15, 2015
Michael Malone, son of Brendan Malone, no relation to Moses Malone, long kinship with Sam Malone is your new head coach of the Nuggets.
— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) June 15, 2015
Malone is 39-67 as an NBA head coach, all with Sacramento. He has been an assistant in the NBA since 2001 with stints in New York (Knicks), Cleveland, New Orleans and Golden State prior to earning his first head coaching job with the Kings.
He is credited, in part, for helping develop the defensive system currently on display by the Warriors in this year’s NBA Finals.
Malone’s hiring comes as a bit of a surprise, as stylistic differences with new Nuggets SVP of Business and Team Operations Pete D’Alessandro was reported to be one of the main reasons Malone was fired as head coach in Sacramento early in the 2014-15 season.
D’Alessandro later brought in former Nuggets head coach George Karl to run a more-uptempo style like he ran successfully in Denver for many years.
With the failed attempt to turn Denver into a half court team under Brian Shaw, it was believed that the Nuggets wanted to resume the high-speed offensive style under its next head coach. D’Alessandro’s hiring late last week seemed further evidence of that notion.
One thing is certain, now: someone compromised at Pepsi Center. Either the Nuggets have backed off their planned return to the run-and-gun style, or Mike Malone has said he’s willing to play that way.
Who, exactly, made the compromise will become clear in the coming days as the team makes the official announcement and – perhaps more pointedly – with whom they select with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
