The first two outside hires on David Adelman’s Nuggets coaching staff are no strangers to Ball Arena.
JJ Barea and Rodney Billups were hired to Adelman’s staff, according to separate reports Tuesday morning. Barea’s hire was first reported by ESPN, while HoopsHype broke the news of Billups’ hiring.
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Barea split a 14-year playing career in the NBA with two stints with the Mavericks bookending three years in Minnesota. He was a member of the Mavericks’ 2011 championship team. After playing his final NBA game in 2019, Barea served as a player development coach in Dallas and general manger and head coach in the Puerto Rican league.
Billups is a Denver native who served as an assistant at Colorado and head coach at University of Denver before joining his older brother Chauncey’s staff in Portland from 2022-24. He served as a scout for the Brooklyn Nets last season and was a regular at Ball Arena. He played for the Pioneers from 2002-05 before embarking on a short playing career in Latvia and Finland.
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Adelman is also trying to hire Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley, according to Marc Stein.
Earlier this offseason, it was announced Ryan Saunders, Popeye Jones and Charles Klask were among the assistants not retained on Adelman’s first staff. Barea and Billups will join holdovers Ryan Bowen, John Beckett, Ognjen Stojakovic, Elvis Valcarcel and Andrew Munson on the bench next season. Munson will coach the Nuggets’ Summer League squad.
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