The questions ESPN’s bombshell Nuggets report didn’t answer

In a piece that reads less like insight and more like an implication, Ramona Shelburne’s story on ESPN suggests Denver general manager Calvin Booth is primed to sidestep accountability for the Nuggets challenges this season, casting head coach Michael Malone as the likely scapegoat.

The article lays the blame for underperformance squarely on Malone’s doorstop, barely addressing Booth’s role in assembling a deeply flawed roster. It paints the current general manager as the architect of the team’s lone title. Of course, he wasn’t the top voice in the room when Denver’s acquired their core four players or developed them. While Booth did pick up role players who were essential to a parade, he has also ditched nearly all of those figures.

Shelburne praises Booth’s “sustained success” vision without truly conveying the reasons for the team’s misgivings and underperformance coming off a championship. The article does seem to understand that the Nuggets may be doomed this year but for some reason, it completely glosses over some key points. Those include a pipe-dream Paul George trade idea, and letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk for nothing, while it does not even mention two players Booth drafted who are wasting roster space.

The result of Shelburne’s words, with obvious heavy influence from Nuggets brass, squarely puts Malone in the crossfire if the team struggles.

Here are some big questions about the Nuggets after Shelburne’s story:

Booth admits tension with Malone

“There was this urge to compete, especially from the players and the coaches and even myself,” Booth told ESPN. “You want to win, especially coming off the heels of winning the championship. And that’s probably where the tension started.”

“What are you guys trying to do? Are you trying to win? Are you trying to develop? I think everybody had the best intent going in. There was buy-in. But I think competition and the focus on that can distract you from the buy-in.”

We finally know there is tension and what the cause of it is after the drama was long rumored. Jamal Murray’s contract seemed to be a fighting point between the two, but it’s players like KCP walking that had Malone ticked off even more. It’s likely why Malone brought up KCP unprompted in his first response to a question after the first game of the season.

So why did Booth let KCP walk? Was it really for flexibility or was that just the company narrative because KSE didn’t want to spend more money? And how did Booth’s voice become so much louder in Josh Kroenke’s ear than Malone’s?

Booth blames Malone for Zeke busting

“I feel like winning the championship is a combination of experience and juice,” Booth said to ESPN. “A lot of times, the younger guys have the juice.”

The lead-up to this quote talks about Nnaji’s upside and his early career three-point shooting success as the reason the Nuggets made him their fifth-highest-paid player on their roster at four years and $32 million. It’s used as an example of the rift between Booth and Malone but only discusses Nnaji’s playing time greatly diminishing after signing the deal—something that Malone could change. What the story breezes past is how poorly Zeke has played since the deal and the evidence before he signed that had many at the time saying at the time that Booth screwed up.

Malone is not without fault, especially given the entire Nikola Jokic era has been plagued by the team’s inability to figure out the backup center spot. While Booth was the second voice in the room, Denver got Isaiah Hartenstein to fill the role. Malone didn’t give him much of a chance then the Nuggets were forced to move him with picks for JaVale McGee who also didn’t play. Since, Hartenstein has gone on to make a lot of money and become one of the better-starting centers in the league. But what was at times obvious with Hartenstein’s skills has been way more erratic with Nnaji. Letting him walk and seeing him blossom like Hartenstein may have been tough but instead, his contract is hamstringing the Nuggets.

Shelburne also had the stats wrong in the article showing a sharp decline in Zeke’s shooting after his contract was signed, when that actually happened before he signed the deal.

Does Booth still believe Nnaji could become a real role player? Does Booth not take responsibility for the extension of Nnaji? If Nnaji has skill and value, how come nobody else in the NBA wants him? Furthermore, will Nnaji be the indictment on Malone that leads to him getting an axe?

Championship or bust?

“If we don’t win it this year,” forward Michael Porter Jr. told ESPN. “We all know they might have to break it up.”

In re-signing Aaron Gordon and Jamal Murray this summer, the Nuggets have locked in their core four players through the 2026-27 season. Will the Nuggets break it up if they don’t win a title? What does success look like and what level does panic set in?

Porter would be the player most likely dealt if Denver does blow it up.

Jokic is responsible for the Westbrook signing

“‘[He] has earned the respect of check-ins and seeing, ‘What do you think about it?”” Booth said. “‘There’s a fine line — if there’s somebody that he’s played with for a long time, I wouldn’t put that responsibility on him. … But we try to involve him as much as we can.'”

‘He said, for example, Jokic was a big proponent of signing Russell Westbrook to be the team’s backup point guard. ‘I think more than anything, [Jokic] loves [Westbrook’s] passion for the game,’ Booth said.”

It’s a no-lose position for Booth to lay the signing of Westbrook on the shoulder of Jokic. Whether or not it works out, Booth is a player-friendly executive who is appeasing his star player. But it absolves him of all the fault for signing the worst volume three-point shooter in NBA history to a team that desperately needs shooting. The move being Jokic’s idea also lets Booth skate from shipping out three second-round picks with Reggie Jackson to create a spot for Westbrook, who is undoubtedly a less effective player at this point in his career. While fit matters a lot, the former MVP coming to Denver seemingly doesn’t make a ton of sense. Of course, it’s Booth, not Jokic, who has the ultimate decision on which players the Nuggets do or don’t sign.

When the Westbrook thing fails, will Jokic be at fault? Will this strain the relationship between the star player and general manager who is likely to get extended? Will Jokic have less power internally in Denver?

Calvin Booth is getting an extension

“Booth’s office on the top floor of Ball Arena is remarkably bare for an executive who has had as much success in his first two seasons as Booth. There are nondescript black leather couches and chairs, and empty walls, with a view of downtown Denver through the large corner office windows. There’s one cabinet filled with books, memorabilia and championship champagne bottles, reminders of what the Nuggets achieved just two years ago.

But the rest of the office is empty, suggesting there’s still much to accomplish. Booth will be the chief architect of whatever comes next as the Nuggets have for months been speaking to him about a contract extension, multiple sources said, and a deal is expected soon.”

Famous in hardcore Nuggets circles, the team posted a graphic about Booth becoming the President of Basketball Operations while he was in a press conference about becoming the lead voice of Denver’s front office. Tim Connelly, who constructed the core of the Nuggets, departed for the Wolves at the report of getting some stake in the team. That was proven to probably be false despite KSE taking a strong stance against it. As time goes on, it seems KSE was just a bit cheap about retaining the core architect to Denver’s title. Though, without Booth’s fresh set of eyes, maybe that championship never gets won. Still, Booth sits here today in the same title he had under Connelly as the team’s GM—though his role has increased.

Will Booth get a title upgrade and perhaps an even stronger voice at the table when the extension is inked? Is Booth’s office empty because they will one day be filled with accomplishments or is he not getting so comfortable?

Booth has unrealistic hopes for young players

“When it came time to close out the Timberwolves, the Nuggets just didn’t have enough left. The veterans ran out of gas, and the young players who were supposed to have the juice to contribute didn’t.”

“The other part of the Christian and Peyton equation is,” Booth said, “I always saw those two matching up to [Boston Celtics wings] Jayson [Tatum] and Jaylen [Brown].”

Indeed, the Nuggets didn’t have enough gas left in the tank. What isn’t mentioned is how much stress Malone put on getting the No. 1 seed which both tired out the core players and gave fewer minutes to the younger guys to develop. It led to Denver having nobody to go in blowing a 20-point lead at home in a Game 7 to the Wolves. Booth is right in that the emphasis was on the wrong thing during the second half of the Nuggets season last year. Where he’s likely wrong is having this much trust in three players selected in the 20s and 30s of the NBA Draft.

Booth’s approach to youth and studying past NBA champions to find a thread that they’re generally younger than people think is admirable. What he either fails to recognize or the article simply does not cover is these players are erratic which can give Malone legitimate pause at playing them in important situations. Especially when these players have been passed up on by 20 other NBA teams. Booth compares the trio of Christian Braun, Julian Strawther and Peyton Watson to Tony Parker, Speedy Claxton and Manu Ginobili. The three Spurs were drafted later on and won titles pretty quickly. But it was also a different era of scouting where international players were sometimes disregarded. While Booth believes his trio will contribute to the Nuggets next title team, there doesn’t seem to be the recognition that the Spurs trio is an outlier and the Nuggets three guys likely needed some more veterans in front of them as they did in 2023 with Jeff Green coming off the bench before Watson and Bruce Brown ahead of Braun.

At what point does Booth change the approach with these there players? While there is some room to critique Malone on their usage, can he really be faulted for the lack of reliable players on the roster of the reigning champions?

Was Paul George really almost a Nugget?

“League sources said the Nuggets inquired about Paul George this offseason, but talks never escalated because Denver refused to discuss Braun, Watson or Strawther, and the Clippers weren’t interested in solely taking back future salary — likely the $147 million owed to Porter and Zeke Nnaji.”

I’m calling hogwash on the Clippers wanting to trade for MPJ. The team’s doctor famously red-flagged Porter’s medical evaluation, which led to him falling to the Nuggets. So several back surgeries and a drop foot later and now the Clippers are in on a max contract player at a time they were clearly slashing salary?

Aside, did the Nuggets really have the assets to make this trade work even if they were willing to include one of the three young players? Denver didn’t have any first-round draft picks to trade and taking back both Porter and Nnaji’s salaries is a huge risk for the reward just being what Watson could be. The Clippers did let George walk for nothing in the end.

Also, did George want to sign a four-year, $200-plus million deal in Denver? To this point, the biggest free agent get in Nuggets history is former All-Star Paul Millsap’s three-year $90 million deal. The oft-injured PG13 was going to more than double that number to play for a team most in NBA history haven’t wanted to all the while Denver was too scared to pay KCP a quarter of that.

And if George was actually on the table… really, Strawther is what stopped you from the trade? Either you wanted him or didn’t and it’s likely the Nuggets weren’t actually all that interested in the 34-year-old wing.

Why didn’t the Nuggets sign-and-trade KCP?

“The Nuggets had an opportunity to get something back for Caldwell-Pope, league sources said, by agreeing to a sign-and-trade with the Dallas Mavericks, who offered Tim Hardaway Jr. or Josh Green, but Denver ultimately declined to do it, believing Braun could fill the role.”

I’m not one to believe that either Hardaway or Green fills the KCP spot and completely changes the trajectory of the Nuggets. What I do know is adding a proven scorer or an upside defender who has flashed, would have been better than what Denver got for letting KCP walk—which is supposedly some flexibility that likely won’t be utilized because the team doesn’t really have other draft picks to trade.

Hardaway has proven to be a decent deep-ball shooter over his NBA career and always tallies double-digit points a contest. While Green is just 23 and got real minutes in the NBA Finals last summer. He’s also proven to be a decent shooter thus far and has a decent size to fill in for KCP’s role. Sure he makes $12-plus million a year but that’s the price of poker for a more proven two-guard than Braun. And it’s not about replacing Braun, who would’ve been in Denver either way, it was about adding in the loss of KCP.

This furthers the point that the reason KCP is no longer a Nugget is purely fiscal.

Nikola Jokic wants no part of any rift or drama

“I’m just trying to play basketball, and I’m happy if we have a chance every year.”

“I think people in general, they always want more and more and more, but they don’t know what they have,” Jokic said. “I’m really happy we have one title — a lot of very good players don’t win.”

“I don’t really comment and look at other teams. I mean, that’s how I was raised: Be big in victory, be big in defeat. That’s how I’m doing my whole life. It’s not something that I’m trying to do, it’s just in my nature.”

These four quotes are all you need to know about Jokic this year and in the coming years. He’s happy he’s won a title but he strives to stay competitive and win another. Nikola ain’t going anywhere despite some seemingly leading tone from ESPN, which is the same type of thing that has Milwaukee scared with Giannis. Jokic isn’t worried about other teams and while he sees some downfalls with the Nuggets he believes he’s smart enough to make it work.

Very little was made about the disaster *minor* moves the last two offseasons

While the article hypes up the importance of 2022 No. 30 pick Watson, it does not mention the No. 32 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft Jalen Pickett or the selection made five slots later in Hunter Tyson. At the cost of a first-round pick, the Nuggets moved up to get Strawther Pickett and Tyson. While Strawther has proven to be worth taking a shot on Pickett and Tyson have barely seen the court. That would be okay for two second-round picks normally except they’re taking up two guaranteed roster spots that is already dedicating one to player-coach DeAndre Jordan and has had to use a fourth on a player who is out all season with an injury—last year Vlatko Cancar and this season DaRon Holmes II. With Nnaji completely out of favor, this means the Nuggets roster is already down to 10 guys who are even realistic candidates to get serious playoff minutes. Even replacing one of these players with a guy like Justin Holiday, who is still a free agent and proved to be valuable last postseason would be an upgrade. Pickett was a straight-up miss, struggling even in Summer League while Tyson seems to have some upside but both should undoubtedly be on two-way contracts which would free the roster for another veteran who could play in the postseason.

Outside of extensions, the Nuggets biggest asset to utilize the last two offseasons was the taxpayer mid-level exception (TPMLE.) A mechanism where teams over the salary cap can hand out a single contract that goes above a minimum deal and is attractive to valuable role players in the league. Off the title, Denver gave a two-year version of this deal to Jackson, who struggled for the Nuggets during the title run. Jackson was up-and-down but pretty worthy of the deal in Denver at least on offense. Not what they had hoped, the Nuggets had to attach three second-round picks to get off his contract this summer. They then turned around and gave the TPMLE to Dario Saric, who ended last season out of the rotation for a just-okay Warriors team. Four games into his Nuggets career and the backup center looks more like he did last year than the solve he seemed to be for the Suns off the bench in 2021. It’s the mishandling of these assets which both maybe cost the Nuggets a possible and limited their ability to be flexible with picks later on. Couple the picks needed to get off Jackson with the ones used to move up and draft Holmes, and the Nuggets basically don’t have draft picks left to deal. So the team you see today is the one you’re going to get in April, unless they trade part of the big four.

These types of fringe roster moves and handling the players outside of the core are what Booth was lauded for in completing Connelly’s build for the championship. Now just two years later, it’s a combination of all these Booth moves that are now bleeding the Nuggets core dry. It’s this very recipe that led the Nuggets to fatigue themselves down the stretch and the snowball of having pretty much nobody else to turn to in the playoffs.

Wait… when did the Nuggets underachieve?

“Booth made his name during that 2022-23 championship season by bringing in eight new players to a roster that had mostly underachieved in the playoffs outside of a run to the conference finals in the bubble in 2020. None of those players were stars, but each played a critical role on the championship team.”

The Nuggets went to the Western Conference Finals in the bubble and then followed it up with a second-round and first-round playoff exit before winning the title in 2023. What Shelburne didn’t mention is Jamal Murray’s knee injury which held him out of the constitutive playoff runs between bubble and title. And then there’s Porter Jr., who also missed that entire second season.

Did anyone expect the hampered Nuggets to make a serious run? Where is this narrative coming from? Did it stink that two years of Jokic’s prime were wasted on early exits? Yes, but was anyone surprised when his co-star wasn’t on the court? Plus, Booth was the GM at the time if there’s an implication that more should have been done with Murray sidelined… At the same time, while injuries are blamed elsewhere in the article, it’s stated nowhere that the Nuggets owners have promised a state-of-the-art facility and training center for years, which has never been built.

If it’s truly Malone vs. Booth, which side?

The article in whole reads like Malone is now on the chopping block and any blame for poor performance this season will result in the coach losing his job. Four games into the Nuggets season and with Malone just six wins shy of tying Doug Moe for most in Denver hoops history, we’re now putting the 10-year coach on the hot seat? Has Malone not proven to out-maneuver some of the NBA’s top minds? He coached Denver to its first title, beating the regarded Erik Spoelstra in the Finals. He’s found a recipe to win against Steve Kerr in every game the last two years. Malone has done what no other Denver coach has and conquered the Lakers and then did it again a season later. He became the devil in Los Angeles and to LeBron James. Malone has coached resiliency into the unit, where they’ve come back from down 3-1 twice in the same season—never done before or since. They also have gone on the road and won games down numerous players. He has basically gotten Doc Rivers, Terry Sotts, Darvin Ham, Monty Williams and Quin Snyder fired among others.

Why in any world would Malone be out first before Booth when almost everyone in the hoops world knows the Nuggets roster construction is now their key flaw? Not to say Malone is perfect, but it’s hard to blame him here—unless you’re desperate and trying to preemptively point the finger.

Will Calvin’s mouth cost him?

Calvin Booth just can’t stop talking and obviously, a lot of this story came from his perspective or that of his fellow front office executives. Booth was very loud about his success with the Nuggets after the title. He went as far as to say ‘Be careful with what you wish for’ when Denver saw Brown leave and elevated Watson’s role. Booth also telegraphed his draft pick of Holmes, which may have cost the Nuggets an additional second-round pick to move up. It’s important to note how quiet of an organization KSE is from the top down. Will Booth’s openness to talk be his doing in before his poor moves?

ESPN… being ESPN

Just pointing this out… but ESPN is interested in the success of ESPN. Just like how they likely held and possibly manufactured the news of Danny Hurley’s link to the Lakers job this summer that just so happened to publish the day of Game 1 of the Finals on their air… this story has pretty obvious timing.

The article comes out on the day of ESPN’s first broadcast of a Nuggets game this season and it just so happens to be against the Wolves, Connelly’s team, don’t forget that. It likely wouldn’t even matter if the Nuggets had started 4-0, this article would have been published today.

And that’s without mentioning some of the bias other ESPN personalities have shared the last few years when it comes to Denver and Jokic. I’ve been first-hand to some of this negative chatter in person during the Nuggets playoff runs. Simply said, there are a lot of folks over there who do not want Jokic or the Nuggets to succeed.