It seems like as of late, the Denver Nuggets are picking up people that the Sacramento Kings have left behind. They hired Kings general manager Peter D’Alessandro and have now hired for Kings coach Michael Malone to fill their head coaching vacancy.
Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report the news for Yahoo! Sports:
The Denver Nuggets have reached an agreement to hire Michael Malone as coach, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 15, 2015
This seems like a good hire for the Nuggets. They were ranked 27th out of 30 teams in the team defense statistic, and Malone is a defensive minded coach. Malone will have a tough time competing in the Western Conference as they seem to have no real direction in terms of building a roster to compete for a playoff spot.
Malone is also known as a guy who can really shape a young player into a professional on and off the basketball court. DeMarcus Cousins is a great example of that, and while he still has his antics, people say that without Malone, Cousins’ attitude could have spiraled downwards.
This is a wait and see project for the Nuggets. They didn’t have too many great options to go with, so this seems like a good hire for them right now. Check out our writer @alecwalt’s entry on this offseason for the Denver Nuggets.
