The Denver Nuggets will begin their coaching search on Thursday, a process that will include serious consideration of interim coach Melvin Hunt, league sources told Yahoo Sports.
After replacing Brian Shaw, Hunt had the Nuggets playing much better basketball, finishing a 30-52 season on a much more competitive 10-13 run.
Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly and president Josh Kroenke plan a broad search with a candidate list that will include – among others – ex-head coaches Michael Malone, Mike D’Antoni, Scott Skiles and Alvin Gentry, league sources said.
The report also lists Blazers assistant David Vanterpool and highly regarded college coaches Billy Donovan and Fred Hoiberg among the names the Nuggets will explore. If Scott Brooks is let go in Oklahoma City, he will also be a candidate.
There’s no clear answer to who would be the best fit, considering nobody has any clue what this Denver roster is going to look like going forward. Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried could very easily find themselves playing elsewhere before the offseason is through, and the rest of the roster is a mishmash of middling vets and young players, with rookie big man Jusuf Nurkic having the most long-term keeper potential.
Malone absolutely deserves another shot as an NBA coach after being fired by Sacramento earlier in the season under bizarre circumstances. D’Antoni’s reputation has taken a hit in recent years thanks to unsuccessful stints with the Knicks and Lakers, but if the Nuggets put together an uptempo roster, he could be a fit. Hunt has done enough in his short time at the helm to earn consideration. There are plenty of directions they could go, but it sounds like we won’t get an answer until they’ve explored all options.
