Evaluating Why David Adelman Is the Right Choice as Nuggets HC

The Denver Nuggets are opting to keep David Adelman as their head coach.

Apr 23, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman answers questions at a press conference before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The Denver Nuggets have made their stance clear this offseason: David Adelman is staying put as the franchise's head coach. Of course, after a disappointing first-round playoff exit, fans were split on the front office's decision to keep Adelman around. However, it feels clear that this is the right choice.

Adelman led the Nuggets to a 54-28 record in the regular season, despite Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, Cam Johnson, and Peyton Watson each missing a chunk of the season, and even three-time MVP Nikola Jokic was sidelined for a month. The Nuggets caught the injury bug as badly as any team in the NBA this season, yet Adelman helped the team prevail and finish in third place in the West.

Now, Adelman will be the team's coach next season, and here are a few reasons why that is the right decision:

Leading the NBA's top offense

Oct 27, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman directs center Nikola Jokic (15) against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the fourth quarter at Target Center. | Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

En route to a 54-win season, the Nuggets posted the NBA's best offense and one of the most efficient in league history. The Nuggets finished with a league-best offensive rating of 121.2. Sure, much of that credit goes to Jokic and his supporting cast, but why?

Through the first ten years of the Jokic era in Denver, they never posted a top-three offensive rating in the NBA. However, in Adelman's first full season as head coach, and in a year where Jokic played a career-low 65 games, they had the league's best offense. Obviously, Jokic and Jamal Murray deserve their flowers, but so does Adelman.

Adelman optimized Denver's offensive scheme, with the only unfortunate hiccups coming in clutch time and in the playoffs. For a first-year head coach, nothing is going to be perfect, and there is reason to believe he will figure out their weaknesses over the offseason and continue to refine their system.

A scarce market

The NBA coaching carousel continues ⏩ @brohrbach ranks NBA job openings from best to worst 👀

More: https://t.co/c6Zz4omf4b pic.twitter.com/aNqD0mNRis

— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) May 22, 2026

With a handful of teams around the league making changes at their head coaching position, the Nuggets should be grateful they are not one of them.

There are only so many NBA-ready head coaches to go around, and after a 54-win season, it would be silly for the Nuggets to fire theirs in the slim hope of finding another. Adelman would have immediately been one of the top names on the market if Denver parted with him, making it nearly impossible to find a replacement who is actually an upgrade.

Regardless of how upset fans were about the first-round playoff exit, firing Adelman would have been far too drastic a change, especially when looking at his potential replacements.

Familiarity

Apr 8, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets head coach David Adelman looks on in the second quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at Ball Arena. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

Sure, sometimes change is good, but changing coaches at this stage would likely be a mistake. Adelman was an assistant in Denver from the 2017-18 season to the end of the 2024-25 season, when he was promoted to interim head coach with just four games until the playoffs. Obviously, that was a drastic change, but keeping it in-house was the right choice by the Nuggets.

Adelman knew exactly how to coach this Nuggets team, and it is impossible to say he did a bad job once given the position. After being put in a tough spot, he led the team to a playoff series win in 2025, and in their 2026 playoff run, there was not much he could do when his players couldn't even throw a rock in the ocean.

Given the circumstances, Adelman has done a good job. Especially when dealing with a solid core and a superstar of Jokic's caliber, it is good to have a sense of familiarity. There was no need to make such a drastic coaching change after just one season, which would've forced Jokic to have three different head coaches within three seasons.

Sure, if the Nuggets have a disappointing 2026-27 campaign, this could be a lot different next summer. For now, though, keeping Adelman is undoubtedly the right choice.

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