Head Coach Candidate Profile: David Adelman

The Denver Nugget Assistant Coach is set to interview with the Charlotte Hornets for their Head Coach opening

Background

Adelman is the son of former NBA player and head coach Rick Adelman. David has been
around basketball his entire life being the son of an NBA legend, but his coaching journey
started immediately after graduating high school. He started as a volunteer assistant coach at
his alma mater, Jesuit High School, in Portland, Oregon, before head coaching Lincoln High
School to three city championships and a state championship appearance.

Adelman broke into the NBA as a player development coach under his father in 2011. He
coached in Minnesota until 2016 (head coaching the Timberwolves summer league squad three
times), before becoming an assistant coach in Orlando for a year.

David Adelman currently sits on the Denver Nuggets as Michael Malone’s lead assistant. His
rise through the coaching ranks culminated with an NBA championship last season with Denver.
In 2023 Malone missed a handful of games due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols and
Adelman filled in as the Nuggets’ interim head coach.

What people say

Nikola Jokic - “I really think he’s the guy who’s going to be the next head coach because he has that
head for a head coach...He is thinking in front, he knows answers, and he reads and
reacts.”

Michael Porter Jr. after Adelman filled in for Nuggets’ head coach Michael
Malone - “He’s such a good coach. He was so relaxed, had us in the right place all night. He was
giving us confidence, not overreacting to things. It felt like it wasn’t his first time doing it.’’

Jamal Murray - “He puts everybody in the right spots...when it’s time to lock in, he can lock you in. He’ll get on you, and I respect that a lot just because we’re all in it together. I go to him for a
lot of the offensive stuff ... he’s always given me great input on what we can run and
sometimes we have the same ideas. It’s nice to see that what I am feeling in the game
he is also seeing from afar. ... he definitely should be getting more (coaching) offers.”

Coaching strengths

Adelman is hailed for his offensive acumen. His father, Rick, revolutionized the NBA in the early
2000s with the Sacramento Kings by turning big men Chris Webber and Brad Miller into threats
on the perimeter, not just the paint. Webber and Miller both handled the ball around the three-
point line and whizzed passes to cutters coming off screens and dribble hand-offs. Much of the
modern game you see today comes from Rick Adelman’s early innovations with the Kings.

David Adelman took his father’s all-around big-man playing vision and fine-tuned it with Nikola
Jokic. The two-time MVP has seen has seen his game improve tenfold under Adleman’s watch.
Jokic is the perfect centerpiece, queen-on-the-chessboard type player that the Adelman offense
can thrive around. On a (significantly) lesser note, Aaron Gordon has thrived in Adelman and Malone’s system as well as a pivot point, free-throw line extended creator and dunker spot
finisher. David Adelman’s offensive-mind would bring a free-flowing offense to Charlotte that the fanbase is yearning for.

Coaching weaknesses

The only knock on Adelman’s resume is his inexperience and questions about his defensive
mindset. The young head coaching candidate has only slightly more than a decade of NBA experience and his next head coaching job will be his first time leading a non-high school level program. The league has seen young coaches thrive time and time again, so his inexperience won’t
knock him down a peg compared to his peers, but a young Hornets roster looking for it’s identity
could value a more veteran voice in the locker room.

On top of that, Adelman isn’t hailed for his defensive prowess. Evidence suggests that Adelman is an offensive genius, but doesn't show the same track record on defense. His lack of experience in the league limits his connections and assistant options, but he would likely need to hire a defensive expert to come alongside him and turn around the other side of the ball from his expertise.

Conclusion

Adelman would be a great hire for the Charlotte Hornets. He brings championship-level experience, and an offensive playbook that could unlock LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller, and Mark Williams unlimited
potential as a trio. There are questions about his age and lack of experience, but Charlotte
could benefit from taking a swing on an unproven coach that has room to spread his wings and
fly in Buzz City.