When a team’s season ends earlier than expected, the postmortem typically begins with the most-consequential moments — the ones that mattered most. In the Nuggets case, that would be a first-round playoff exit at the hands of their biggest rival. But Denver’s front office appears to be looking in a different direction entirely.
On a Monday edition of “Dover and Cecil,” the hosts discussed comments from Nuggets president Josh Kroenke, who publicly defended head coach David Adelman last week. The focus of Kroenke’s praise was Adelman’s management of a 16-game stretch earlier this season during which Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic was sidelined with a knee injury. Denver posted a 10-6 record during that span — a commendable mark under the circumstances — and Kroenke pointed to it as evidence of Adelman’s capability.
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Dover and Shapiro, however, found the framing difficult to accept.
“They played 88 games, and you wanna talk about a 16-game sample size?” Dover said, making clear his belief that the emphasis is badly misplaced.
Adelman took the head coaching role late last season and the true measure of his tenure was always going to be determined by postseason performance. This year, the Nuggets did not return to the NBA Finals. Instead, they were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves. By any reasonable standard, that result — not a mid-season stretch against lesser competition — should anchor the evaluation of the head coach.
Shapiro took the critique a step further.
“David Adelman is the coach of the Denver Nuggets because the Nuggets beat up a bunch of bottom-tier Eastern Conference teams without Nikola Jokic,” he said.
The implication is a pointed one — that Adelman’s standing within the organization rests on a narrow sample of regular-season success rather than meaningful postseason results.
“It was about what the Nuggets could do without their star player that David Adelman is the head coach of the Denver Nuggets today — rather than what they didn’t do with their star player,” Shapiro added.
That distinction is where the disconnect becomes most apparent. Evaluating a head coach primarily on how the team performed during Jokic’s absence — rather than on whether the team maximized its potential with him in the lineup — raises legitimate questions about organizational priorities.
Denver faces significant decisions this offseason. Dover and Shapiro simply aren’t convinced the front office is asking the right questions.