DENVER — Despite Josh Kroenke referencing a nightmare scenario where the Denver Nuggets might have to trade Nikola Jokic, the team made it pretty clear on Tuesday that they don’t plan to trade any of their big-time players anytime soon.
In an introductory press conference for the team’s newly named co-executive vice presidents, Ben Tenzer and Jonathan Wallace, Kroenke and the two men doubled down on the team’s need to add talent to the back of the roster. At no point did they mention the possibility of breaking up the so-called core four or even the starting five rounded out by Christian Braun. Instead, they again talked about how close the Nuggets are to the top and how the team was just there. That belief is held by ownership led by Kroenke, the longtime team executive Tenzer, and the new set of eyes, Wallace.
“To add skill sets that coach David Adelman can have more tools to add to that toolbox, to allow him to complement the guys, this core group here that won a championship a couple of years ago,” Wallace laid out his initial goals as the Executive Vice President of Player Personnel for Denver. “When these guys are healthy, at their best, they’re one of the best starting lineups in the entire league. So just to put certain skills, certain things that can alleviate the ceiling for us and add confidence to DA’s toolbox.”
Wallace pointed to shooting and defense with Denver’s limited assets as the offseason begins in earnest with the NBA Draft this week. Those are likely things the executive identified as issues for the Nuggets while he worked high up in the Minnesota Timberwolves front office the last few years, one of the few teams that has had Denver’s number. Wallace was part of the front office group that followed Tim Connelly to Minnesota. But it’s not just over the last few years or when he was working for the Nuggets that Wallace developed these principles; it likely goes all the way back to college where he led the John Thompson III-coached team to the Final Four.
“We have to be really conscious of margins. We’ve got to be very deliberate,” Wallace said. “And obviously the time is now, Joker is a generational talent, and how he elevates the level of play of so many people around him. We’ve got to make sure that we find some more shooting, address some of the defensive concerns. But I think we have both young individuals here that can step up and do that as we continue to develop them, as well as we’ll look outside and see what makes sense.”
“I think it’s important to hit on the margins more than ever,” said Tenzer, who was promoted from interim GM to Vice President of Basketball Operations.
This has been the consistent message from the Nuggets, no matter the voice, since the team was defeated in Game 7 of the second round by the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder: they’re close. Not only that, but the three seem to agree on the best pathway forward — internal development. That means players like Peyton Watson, Julian Strawther, Jalen Pickett and DaRon Holmes II will be as big of a part of the Nuggets’ hope, if not more so, for improved depth than the three open roster spots they have.
“They’re good players. The easiest way to develop is time. And so I think over the past couple of years, they’ve got more experience playing real games and real situations, so we have the utmost confidence in them,” Wallace said. “It’s just a matter of restructuring that and having a new approach this year, a few new voices, but the energy and the outcome, expected outcome (for them) are still the same.”
The benefit of development time is fewer minutes put on Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. That can help them be more effective on any given night or even keep their legs in better shape for playoff time.
“I think the IQ is so high here. Positional size is so high here. I think you have you’re further along than what you think you are. I think now it’s just adding three more pieces that can just give these guys, honestly, some rest,” Wallace said. “You can’t control the injuries. You can’t control those things. But again, it goes back to control and what we can control, and that’s just adding the individuals that fit this culture.”
The culture, at least at the top, will be divided into two for each man. They may disagree at some point, but for now, they’re aligned with each other and the boss, so the core is staying together again.
“Talked to a lot of different people from a lot of different areas, and gained a lot of different perspectives, both in the basketball world and out of the basketball world, and really kind of nailing down what the Denver Nuggets need,” Kroenke said. “And that’s the margins on the outside of our roster. And I think that both Jon and Ben have complementary skill sets that are really going to help us creatively address those things moving forward.”
