Adelman wants Nuggets in even better condition

DENVER -- Jamal Murray was located successful the backmost of the country and truthful helium heard the connection firsthand from caller Denver Nuggets manager David Adelman. Same with Julian Strawther, who took a spot successful the beforehand row.

For the players not successful attendance astatine Adelman's introductory quality league Wednesday, a speedy recap: Adelman wants everyone successful adjacent amended information and unfastened to caller ideas travel grooming camp.

Because the Western Conference won't beryllium getting immoderate easier, Adelman insisted. It's up to the Nuggets to set down a roster that revolves astir three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. Adelman wants his players to person a large voice, too, conscionable similar they did aft helium took implicit pursuing the firing of manager Michael Malone and wide manager Calvin Booth with 3 games near successful the regular season.

"New ideas are bully ideas," Adelman said. "I person to springiness them thing to travel backmost to that excites them."

Adelman earned the promotion from interim to full-time caput manager aft a postseason tally that saw the Nuggets get to a Game 7 against Oklahoma City successful the 2nd circular earlier being knocked out. The Nuggets had a bladed seat and an injury-hampered starting five.

Now, the enactment begins to enactment his stamp connected directing the Nuggets. He's gathered a wealthiness of cognition done an array of NBA coaching mentors specified arsenic his begetter Rick Adelman, Sam Mitchell, Frank Vogel, the precocious Flip Saunders and, of course, Malone.

"Very prepared," Adelman said of his level of readiness. "When you're astir those radical and you spot however they tally their concern and their process, it's benignant of a cheat code."

Fitness, Adelman maintained, volition beryllium a cardinal to a accelerated commencement -- and wellness travel playoff time.

"Teams that get disconnected to large starts usually astatine the extremity of the twelvemonth person the champion accidental of being steadfast successful these large games," said Adelman, who is moving connected rounding retired his coaching staff. "But, yeah, that volition beryllium the anticipation to travel backmost successful overmuch amended shape."

One of the areas the Nuggets purpose to code successful the offseason is depth. The Nuggets ran retired of steam successful the Thunder bid aft beating the LA Clippers successful 7 games to beforehand retired of the archetypal round.

"Can they execute that [championship goal] arsenic presently constructed? I deliberation the answer, arsenic [Jokic] said aft the playoffs, and it was evidently no," Kroenke Sports & Entertainment vice president Josh Kroenke said. "So we request to instrumentality a hard look astatine however we tin rise our ceiling going forward, whether that's internally oregon externally.

"If you look astatine the teams inactive playing ... with a small spot of help, possibly a small spot of luck, possibly it could beryllium us. But it's not. We're precise conscious of that and however we request to spell astir improving."

Kroenke shocked the league past period erstwhile helium fired Malone, the winningest manager successful franchise history, and Booth aft they helped bring location the franchise's archetypal NBA rubric successful 2023. It was Kroenke's mode to rejuvenate the team's vigor heading into the postseason.

Next up for Kroenke is hiring a caller GM. For now, Ben Tenzer is overseeing the relation connected an interim basis.

The plan, Kroenke said, is to bring Adelman into the GM process astatine immoderate point.

"The input volition beryllium comparatively minimal," Kroenke said, "because what I'll beryllium looking for is cohesion betwixt those two."

Added Adelman of the GM: "This concern is astir cohesion. It's each astir conscionable moving guardant and winning. That's it. It's not astir uncovering your champion friend."

The Nuggets don't person a prime successful the upcoming NBA draft. It whitethorn beryllium challenging to adhd extent without breaking up the halfway of Jokic, Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun.

That's wherever Denver's younker factors successful and betterment from the likes of Strawther, Peyton Watson, Jalen Pickett and DaRon Holmes II, a first-round enactment past twelvemonth who tore his close Achilles tendon successful the NBA summertime league successful Las Vegas.

"We're bare to get better," Strawther said. "It's each substance to the fire."

As for the benignant of play, Adelman volition adhd immoderate wrinkles, but defence volition ever beryllium an important principle.

"We person to get backmost to being an execution-based team," Adelman said. "If that takes distant immoderate of our gait numbers, oregon immoderate the analytics privation to say, I deliberation that's OK if it wins you a crippled successful May, arsenic opposed to playing a crippled successful December.

"The bulk of the time, if you privation to triumph big, you've got to play slow. You've got to beryllium efficient. You've got to beryllium clean. So that volition beryllium things we'll speech astir passim the summer, going to grooming camp."