Nuggets fill Finch's shoes; hire 34-year veteran coach

The Denver Nuggets have hired Bob Weiss as an assistant coach, the team announced Wednesday. Weiss is expected to fill the role vacated by former assistant coach Chris Finch who left the Nuggets after one season to join Alvin Gentry’s staff in New Orleans.

Finch was a big reason for the Nuggets’ offensive explosion last season and filling his role will be a tough task moving forward. Adding Weiss, who has 34 years of coaching experience and spent four seasons working under George Karl in Seattle from 1994-98, will help.

Not only did Weiss learn under the fast-paced style of Karl but he was also part of the coaching staff in Charlotte for the past four seasons and helped craft a top-15 offense behind Kemba Walker and big men Frank Kaminsky and Cody Zeller.

Paul Millsap was still in Utah during the 2012-13 season when Weiss was an assistant coach in Atlanta but he did spend time working with Al Horford with the Hawks — a player Nikola Jokic is commonly compared to.

If Weiss can work the same offensive magic with the Nuggets’ front court pairing of Millsap and Jokic that he was able to in Charlotte, it could result in one of the league’s most productive frontcourts. Add in Weiss potentially guiding Jamal Murray to develop in the way Walker did with the Hornets and it seems that Nuggets hired the right man to fill Finch’s shoes.