Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:
NBA Insider
The organizational chart is closer to complete, but there’s still questions to be answered as to how the Nuggets will operate.
Interim general manager Ben Tenzer was retained and in a new role, executive vice president of basketball operations, while Jon Wallace returned to Denver as the Nuggets’ executive vice president of player personnel after spending a few seasons in a similar role in Tim Connelly’s Timberwolves front office. Tenzer and Wallace will report to team president Josh Kroenke.
The Nuggets no longer have a general manager position after the restructuring.
There’s one way this works and another where it doesn’t.
The best-case scenario includes a clear delineation of roles. Tenzer has experience working in sports agencies and has a firm grasp on the salary cap. He should deal with the business side of the basketball, while Wallace, who played alongside Roy Hibbert and former Nuggets forward Jeff Green at Georgetown, can use his playing experience to handle more of the scouting and team-building responsibilities.
The way it doesn’t work is if Tenzer and Wallace aren’t routinely on the same page with each other or new head coach David Adelman. Even if they have a clear separation of job responsibilities, there’s going to be plenty of crossover, as it all exists in the same ecosystem.
The Tenzer-Wallace duo spent time together in Denver before Wallace moved to Minnesota. If Josh Kroenke has to serve as the tiebreaker between the two VPs, the Nuggets could quickly effectively be run by the team president. Kroenke has his own hoops acumen after playing at Missouri, but he’s also involved with Kroenke Sports and Entertainment’s other teams – Arsenal, Colorado Avalanche and Colorado Rapids.
The trio needs to get together quickly. The Nuggets are down to less than two days if they want to try to get into this week’s draft. Then, it’s time to consider free agent targets and contract extensions for Nikola Jokic, Christian Braun and Peyton Watson,
Tenzer, Wallace and Kroenke are expected to hold a press conference to start answering some of the bigger questions facing the franchise on Tuesday afternoon at Ball Arena.
What I’m Thinking
It’s no surprise the Thunder are the favorites to win again next season, but they’re going to have to do something the previous seven teams to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy couldn’t.
Oklahoma City has the best odds — +220 — to win the 2026 title and there’s a big gap between the Thunder and Cleveland (+800), Knicks (+900) and Rockets (+900), according to Fan Duel. Boston and Orlando are both +1300, while the Timberwolves and Lakers are +1400.
Denver has the ninth-best odds at +1600. Of the 13 teams with the best odds to win, nine reside in the Western Conference.
After winning the title in 2023, the Nuggets struggled with fatigue and the challenge of getting opposing teams’ best shot on a nightly basis. Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury in the playoffs effectively ended Boston’s chance to repeat this year.
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The 2017 and 2018 Warriors — dominant squads led by Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — was the last team to repeat. The league has changed significantly since then with the new collective bargaining agreement aimed at increasing parity.
The Thunder have the personnel to break the trend, and they’re still young enough that the salary constraints won’t force Sam Presti’s front office into tough decisions just yet. The young core in Oklahoma City put itself into a couple of tough spots in the playoffs due to youth and inexperience but survived Game 7s against a Nuggets team playing with a few banged-up rotation players and a Pacers squad that lost Tyrese Haliburton in the first quarter of Sunday’s deciding game.
If Oklahoma City isn’t as fortunate or motivated after reaching the summit next season, there’s a good chance the streak of a different champion extending to an eighth season.
Houston’s trade for Durant, Saric’s decision make for scary Sunday for Nuggets | Vinny’s take
What They’re Saying
Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joined a short list of players who won the championship after winning the regular-season Most Valuable Player and scoring title. The other players to earn such honors in the same season need no introduction — Shaquille O’Neale, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Gilgeous-Alexander was unanimously voted as Finals MVP after Sunday’s game but decided to share the award with teammate Jalen Williams.
“Jalen Williams … is a one-in-a-lifetime player,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
“Without him, without his performances, without his big-time moments, without his shot-making, defending, everything he brings to this team, we don’t win this championship without him. … This is just as much my MVP as it is his.”
Denver Nuggets promote Ben Tenzer, add Jon Wallace in front-office restructuring
What I’m Following
– Tyrese Haliburton’s injury was as bad as it looked. The Pacers guard suffered a torn Achilles tendon early in Sunday’s Game 7. Haliburton will likely miss the entirety of next season. He entered the game playing on a strained right calf.
– There was good news and bad news from the Finals ratings. Sunday’s Game 7 was viewed by more than 16.3 million people, making it the most-watched NBA game 2019. The Finals as a whole, however, averaged just under 10.3 million viewers, which was the least watched Finals since 2021.
– Kris Middleton will return to the Wizards to start next season. The veteran win picked up his player option worth $33.3 million for next season on Monday. Middleton won a championship in Milwaukee before the Bucks traded him to Washington for Kyle Kuzma and others in a three-team deal ahead of the deadline.
– Nikola Jokic apparently hasn’t eaten Taco Bell since the chain’s commercial aired while he was selected with the 41st pick of the 2014 NBA Draft. Old El Paso is trying to make sure the big fella isn’t missing out on tacos, offering 11 years of free tacos to make up for lost time.