Does Josh Kroenke want to run it back with current Nuggets roster? ‘I think a lot of our answers are internal’

The Nuggets have their next coach but they still need a new architect for a roster that s already built by cement Don t expect them to hire a general manager at present or the coming day At least that was the indication band president and governor Josh Kroenke gave while speaking with reporters on Thursday afternoon following the announcement of interim coach David Adelman s promotion to the full-time job On the front office stuff I want to take my time a little bit more Kroenke commented Essentially while one search came to a quick conclusion the other remains in its infant stages Might Kroenke double-dip on internal hires Ben Tenzer has done an unbelievable job over the last six weeks getting things reorganized he reported lauding his interim GM Ben s been with us a very long time I want to solicit his opinion Assistant general manager Tommy Balcetis is in our front office I want to solicit his opinion Because these guys have seen the ups and downs through thick and thin over the last -plus years And then I m also gonna be soliciting selected outside opinion So there s gonna be an extensive process That was just one of numerous topics addressed by Kroenke at the Nuggets end-of-season news conference that ran for approximately minutes Here are three takeaways from his session with reporters Brightest upcoming minds for GM Kroenke declared I ve promoted general managers from within for several cycles now Am I going to do that again I m not sure But I know we have selected very capable people in this organization and they ve made me rethink a sparse things that I ve already been thinking myself which is great I don t want an organization where everyone agrees I want everyone to challenge people and then when the door opens and we move out we re all moving in unison I would be naive if I didn t think about soliciting opinions outside these walls whether that s from particular of my own basketball contacts or hiring a firm that perhaps might be able to give me a list of selected of the brightest upcoming minds in the league Translation Even if the Nuggets end up hiring from within they re clearly planning to consider other candidates in a more deliberate process Either way it seems unlikely that Denver s next general manager will be a grizzled veteran executive Kroenke s use of the phrase brightest upcoming minds was notable The menace with hiring a candidate like Tenzer or Balcetis Perpetuation of insular thinking The peril with an unfamiliar newcomer No guarantee of philosophical alignment between the GM and a coach who was already hired The Nuggets should be pretty sensitive to that dynamic Trades Maybe not Kroenke noted I think a lot of our answers are internal right now With where we are from a roster standpoint we have guys locked into contracts We re going into a coaching transition And to be frank that s a huge change Huge change DA s philosophy how he might use these guys slightly differently there s gonna be a lot of big changes throughout our organization already Translation Run it back This was perhaps the defining theme of Kroenke s news conference When he was solicited if he feels urgency to explore trading a high-salary participant to fix Denver s problematic lack of depth Kroenke instead referenced a lot of effective teams that have developed their benches These answers sound like code for Michael Malone didn t develop his bench enough to give Denver s depth a chance In any situation the Nuggets clearly believe Adelman can get something out of this roster that Malone couldn t by the end of his regime And considering the crew s shortage of avenues to acquire new players it sounds like Kroenke is placing the onus on Adelman to develop his young bench players into more viable options The Nuggets fired Calvin Booth but they haven t fired his idea yet Or maybe they just feel stuck with the idea Related Articles Nuggets hire David Adelman as head coach after playoff run as interim coach Nuggets offseason preview Will Denver make deal First band requirements new GM Nuggets general manager search Candidates Denver could consider to run basketball operations Nuggets Podcast What s next after Denver is eliminated by Oklahoma City Thunder Nikola Jokic misses out on th MVP voted runner-up to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander What about Kroenke s role in basketball ops Kroenke explained The thing that was tough to deal with is Should I have been more hands-on or more hands-off in the transition from Tim Connelly to Calvin Booth a couple years ago Well we won the championship the first year We d never done that before So I don t know what the right balance was then I think authentically looking back on it I should have been more hands-on in the wake of the championship I need to be more hands-on in the moments of transition while also recognizing when I need to take a step back and allow people to do their jobs It s a delicate balance one that literally requires the art of just reading people I should ve recognized certain human elements that were going on that could affect the group later on Translation Perhaps it s a pang of regret over the guaranteed contracts that Denver kept giving its low draft picks after winning the championship interpreted by Malone as acts of egotism and authoritarianism by Booth snowballing into semi-wasted years for those players Julian Strawther Jalen Pickett Hunter Tyson and DaRon Holmes II at this time occupy four roster spots on the - roster but none of them have been consistent enough or healthy enough to make an everyday playoff rotation Expect Kroenke to be pretty closely involved in Denver s upcoming roster decisions as the company and its new GM tries to address out of a tough spot At the bare minimum he seems anxious to avoid more fallout of clashing ideologies Want more Nuggets news Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis