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As the Denver Nuggets get set for a hard-fought playoff series with the Los Angeles Clippers this weekend, interim head coach David Adelman probably has a lot on his mind.
On the fly, Adelman's busy formulating a general playoff game plan as the head honcho for the first time. That is a lot of pressure to deal with, dearest readers. Also, he's likely trying to better ingratiate himself with his Nuggets players, like three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, to better manage them. He's doing all of this while undoubtedly taking on other smaller minutiae detail head coaching responsibilities he didn't have to think about before when he was Denver's top assistant coach.
Oh, and Adelman's on an expiring contract, meaning his future is uncertain and up in the air before he becomes one of the NBA's best coaching candidates this summer. That sounds so ... overwhelming.
Of course, one of the bigger presumed reasons the Nuggets fired long-time head coach Michael Malone was to seemingly give Adelman a legitimate "audition" at the full-time job, so to speak. Adelman has been considered one of the NBA's brighter, younger coaches for some time now. The Nuggets' brass is undoubtedly aware of this dynamic, which possibly makes it easier to connect the dots on Denver's intentions for Adelman depending on how the franchise fares this postseason.
Adelman downplayed this audition idea entirely when asked about the possibility during the Nuggets' first playoff practice on Wednesday. Because, of course, he did. There's no reason to think he's lying, either. He's worried about getting the Nuggets ready to shine in the playoffs first because he wants to do right by his players, and his job status second. That's how any good coach would operate in this situation.
That thought process in itself is precisely why Adelman is the odds-on favorite for the Nuggets job:
Beyond the injection of energy and creativity that the tactical and measured Adelman has given the Nuggets so far, it's clear he already has a quality rapport established with Denver's core players. (He also seems to be no-nonsense with players like Russell Westbrook and Michael Porter Jr.) Jokic, in particular, seems to really like and respect Adelman as a leader. This is significant, given that Jokic's opinion probably carries the most weight within the Nuggets organization right now for obvious reasons.
If an all-time great like Jokic appreciates Adelman, he's already well ahead of the game in making this a full-time gig.
But the Nuggets won't entrust the prime of Jokic to Adelman based on a single three-game regular-season winning streak. That would be silly. Adelman's Nuggets will have to make noise this postseason, starting by toppling a loaded Clippers squad that is extremely well-coached in the first round. If Adelman can take this Denver team to the Western Conference Semifinals, at minimum, it's very hard to imagine he won't get the job.
And to Adelman's credit, even if he's not actively thinking about auditioning for the Nuggets' head-coaching position in real time, he's certainly carrying himself like Denver is already his team. That confidence won't go unnoticed:
A critical postseason awaits the Nuggets and Adelman. With a quality run this spring, it might only be a matter of time before we're regularly discussing these two entities as a connected, entrenched pair.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: David Adelman downplayed auditioning for Nikola Jokic's Nuggets coach job
Continue reading...
On the fly, Adelman's busy formulating a general playoff game plan as the head honcho for the first time. That is a lot of pressure to deal with, dearest readers. Also, he's likely trying to better ingratiate himself with his Nuggets players, like three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, to better manage them. He's doing all of this while undoubtedly taking on other smaller minutiae detail head coaching responsibilities he didn't have to think about before when he was Denver's top assistant coach.
Oh, and Adelman's on an expiring contract, meaning his future is uncertain and up in the air before he becomes one of the NBA's best coaching candidates this summer. That sounds so ... overwhelming.
Of course, one of the bigger presumed reasons the Nuggets fired long-time head coach Michael Malone was to seemingly give Adelman a legitimate "audition" at the full-time job, so to speak. Adelman has been considered one of the NBA's brighter, younger coaches for some time now. The Nuggets' brass is undoubtedly aware of this dynamic, which possibly makes it easier to connect the dots on Denver's intentions for Adelman depending on how the franchise fares this postseason.
Adelman downplayed this audition idea entirely when asked about the possibility during the Nuggets' first playoff practice on Wednesday. Because, of course, he did. There's no reason to think he's lying, either. He's worried about getting the Nuggets ready to shine in the playoffs first because he wants to do right by his players, and his job status second. That's how any good coach would operate in this situation.
That thought process in itself is precisely why Adelman is the odds-on favorite for the Nuggets job:
Beyond the injection of energy and creativity that the tactical and measured Adelman has given the Nuggets so far, it's clear he already has a quality rapport established with Denver's core players. (He also seems to be no-nonsense with players like Russell Westbrook and Michael Porter Jr.) Jokic, in particular, seems to really like and respect Adelman as a leader. This is significant, given that Jokic's opinion probably carries the most weight within the Nuggets organization right now for obvious reasons.
If an all-time great like Jokic appreciates Adelman, he's already well ahead of the game in making this a full-time gig.
But the Nuggets won't entrust the prime of Jokic to Adelman based on a single three-game regular-season winning streak. That would be silly. Adelman's Nuggets will have to make noise this postseason, starting by toppling a loaded Clippers squad that is extremely well-coached in the first round. If Adelman can take this Denver team to the Western Conference Semifinals, at minimum, it's very hard to imagine he won't get the job.
And to Adelman's credit, even if he's not actively thinking about auditioning for the Nuggets' head-coaching position in real time, he's certainly carrying himself like Denver is already his team. That confidence won't go unnoticed:
A critical postseason awaits the Nuggets and Adelman. With a quality run this spring, it might only be a matter of time before we're regularly discussing these two entities as a connected, entrenched pair.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: David Adelman downplayed auditioning for Nikola Jokic's Nuggets coach job
Continue reading...
