With the 2014-2015 season now in the rear view mirror, the Nuggets will begin the search for their next head coach.
Yahoo Sources: Denver will start contacting candidates in its search, which includes interim coach Melvin Hunt. http://t.co/991fZQDBX7
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) April 16, 2015
CANDIDATES
Melvin Hunt 10-13 Career coaching record
Hunt should be the leader in the clubhouse to retain his job. Hunt re-gained a locker-room full of angst and turmoil, and made the Nuggets a somewhat watchable product again. If the Nuggets don’t give him the reigns, I doubt it will be long before we see Melvin Hunt as a head coach again somewhere.
Mike D’antoni – 455-426 Career coaching record
D’antoni could be a fit for the Nuggets if they want to return to a full out, high tempo offensive system. D’antoni struggled in his first stint with the Nuggets in 1998-99 with a 14-36 record in only 50 games. Obviously the most impressive thing on his resume is the time he spent in Phoenix, but flameouts with talented rosters in New York and LA could be a scarlet letter for D’Antoni. D’Antoni coached Danilo Gallinari in their time together with the Knicks, but Gallinari has already publicly backed Melvin Hunt.
Mike Malone – 39-67 Career coaching record
Malone struggled in his two seasons with the Kings. That may have had more to do with dealing with a turn-style roster and big ego’s, but not sure there is much appeal here.
Scott Skiles – 443-433 career coaching record
Skiles definitely has experience coaching in the league, which the Nuggets may like, but nothing really to scream from the mountain tops about. He led Phoenix, Chicago and Milwaukee all to playoff appearances but nothing much more than that.
Alvin Gentry – 335-370 career coaching record
Despite having ties with great coaches such as Larry Brown and Greg Popovitch, Gentry’s resume is a bit underwhelming. Gentry’s best season came with the Suns in 2010 when he led them to the conference finals before losing to the Lakers in six games.
Billy Donovan – 502-206 career coaching record*
This is an intriguing one. Donovan has won two national championships with the Gators and has developed decent NBA talent from the players he had on those rosters. When you look at the success Brad Stevens is having in Boston with a similar young team, Donovan could appeal to the Nuggets. I would question why Donovan would leave Gainesville to coach a mediocre Nuggets roster, but he may be better fit to join another northwest division team if Oklahoma City were to fire head coach Scotty Brooks.
*Collegiate coaching record
Scotty Brooks – 338-207 career coaching record
This would baffle me a little bit if Brooks were to lose his job with that kind of record to back his resume, along with all the injuries the Thunder suffered this year, but crazier things have happened. Brooks could return to Denver where he was an assistant coach under George Karl, but who knows what kind of coach he is without rostering two perennial MVP candidates.
These are the names that have been mentioned so far. Tim Connelly and Josh Kroenke have said their search will be extensive, so more candidates may surface.
Tell us who you think should get the job.
