Russell Westbrook’s minutes part of Michael Malone-Calvin Booth rift that led to Nuggets firings, per reports

After the Nuggets announced the firing of coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth on Tuesday, a shocking development with the postseason less than a week away, details regarding what potentially led to the decision have trickled out from various sources. 

At the heart of the matter appears to be a pretty icy rift between Booth and Malone. The Athletic reports that “Malone and Booth had been at odds over everything from roster construction to the way players were used, creating tension that started to bleed into the rest of the organization.”

Nuggets fire Michael Malone: How did Denver get here? Malone’s own words paint picture of team dysfunction

James Herbert

In essence, Booth wanted Malone to play the young guys he drafted, like Jalen Pickett and Peyton Watson, but Malone has long been more inclined to trust his veterans. Specifically, Russell Westbrook, who has been getting the minutes Booth would have preferred go to Pickett and has had a rough go of late. 

Westbrook basically single-handedly blew what would have been a huge win, to say nothing of wasting Nikola Jokić’s 61-point triple double, with two last-minute gaffes against the Timberwolves last week. 

The Denver Post reported similarly on the Malone-Booth rift: 

Since the championship season in 2022-23, Malone and Booth have clashed over the direction of the team, sources told The Post, leading to a culture in which “coaches don’t trust the front office and front office (employees) don’t trust the coaches,” one source described.

Disagreements between Malone and Booth stemmed from both Malone’s lineup decisions and Booth’s roster-building philosophy. In Booth’s view, the path to more championships required strong investment in young players through the draft, especially to navigate a new collective bargaining agreement that placed punitive restrictions on teams with expensive payrolls.

Malone grew frustrated with Booth’s reliance on those young players to form a rotation in the middle of a championship window, often preferring to play veterans instead. Six players on Denver’s 15-man roster this season were drafted in the last three years using the 21st overall pick or later.

Booth wanted Malone to prioritize 2023 second-round pick Jalen Pickett over the last two years, sources told The Post, especially in cases when starting point guard Jamal Murray was injured. Instead, Malone often played Collin Gillespie last season despite Gillespie being ineligible to play in the playoffs because he was on a two-way contract. Malone also leaned heavily on 17-year veteran Russell Westbrook for minutes at point guard this season over Pickett, despite Westbrook’s struggles with turnovers.

Where does Jokić fit in all of this? Was he notified? Did he sign off on the firing of his coach? Well, The Athletic reports that there has been “significant frustration within the locker room” regarding the Nuggets’ bottom-10 defense, and that “Jokić has been frustrated with the team’s defensive commitment and performance this season.”

The Denver Post reports that Jokić did not request the coaching change, but that he was “notified of the moves in advance.” It would appear that Jokić didn’t put his foot down for Malone, although there is precedent for star players standing in support of a coach that the organization still ultimately decided to fire. Stephen Curry was a clear advocate for Mark Jackson, and the Warriors still replaced him with Steve Kerr in 2014, which worked out pretty well. 

Malone, of course, would argue that Denver’s defensive decline can be traced back to Booth’s decision, which likely was at the behest of ownership, to let go of key defenders Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown — both of whom played major roles in the 2023 championship. Booth would argue Watson is a defender, but his offense hasn’t come along. 

The Nuggets are wasting Nikola Jokić’s prime, and they’re running out of time to fix it

All of this can be seen through different and frankly reasonable lenses. But the strange thing is Denver deciding to fire both Booth and Malone. If one had a problem with the other, why not just get rid of one? The answer to that can possibly be found in Booth’s contract, which is up this summer and the Nuggets reportedly tried to extend. But Booth declined the extension offer. 

This would mean Malone was out either way, but even as context begins to clear, the timing of the moves makes little sense. You don’t turn a bad defensive team into a good one by moving your assistant coach one chair over on the bench (David Adelman will serve as interim coach). You need good defensive players. 

If you want to address that in the offseason, fine. But to fire the coach that isn’t even two full seasons removed from delivering the only championship in franchise history six days before the postseason starts and think it will fundamentally elevate your short-term outlook is more than desperate. It’s delusional. Whether Westbrook is on the court or Pickett.