The Denver Nuggets finally have a head coach in tow which should get the ball rolling as far as shaping up the team is concerned.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports revealed that Malone has reached an agreement to be the next head coach of the Nuggets, a four-year deal which includes a team option in the final year.
Prior to the announcement, in the running for the head coaching vacancy were interim coach Melvin Hunt and Mike D’ Antoni. But from the list of final candidates, it was Malone who left the strongest impression on Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly and president Josh Kroenke.
Malone thus replaces previous head coach Brian Shaw who was fired last March 3. The Nuggets finished the 2014-15 season with a woeful 30-52 record and the Nuggets are now pinning their hopes on a better showing with Malone who last coached the Sacramento Kings for the early part of the 2014-15 season.
He got the boot in Sacramento during the early stages of last season, his second tenure as head coach.
Malone is credited for having created more professionalism at the Kings, something that earned praises and respect led by King’s superstar DeMarcus Cousins.
Cousins sat out a portion of the Kings’ season due to an illness which translated into a poor 11-13 start for the Kings.
Malone has been known to focus on the defensive end and a player’s coach. And with that said, it remains to be seen what Malone plans to do with the ballclub since the immediate belief right now is that the Nuggets will focus a whole lot more on the defensive end.
Also, it should be worth noting what lies ahead for the Denver roster.
Prior to his hiring, there was word that the Nuggets were contemplating on trading Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried. But all these were made when the head coaching position was still vacant so it should be interesting to see if Malone would keep Lawson and Faried heading into next season.
Malone has been around the NBA since 2001, serving as a deputy to various teams. He started out with the New York Knicks from 2001 to 2005. He moved on to other teams as well like the Cleveland Cavaliers (2005-2010), New Orleans Hornets (2010-11) and the Golden State Warriors (2011-2013).
His first taste of head coaching duty was with the Sacramento Kings in 2013.