Adelman wants Nuggets in tip-top condition and open to ideas

Jamal Murray was located in the back of the room and so he heard the message first-hand from new Denver Nuggets coach David Adelman. Same with Julian Strawther, who took a seat in the front row.

For the players not in attendance at Adelman's introductory news conference Wednesday, a quick recap: Adelman wants everyone in even better condition and open to new ideas come training camp.

Because the Western Conference won't be getting any easier, Adelman insisted. It's up to the Nuggets to adjust behind a roster that revolves around three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. Adelman wants his players to have a big voice, too, just like they did after he took over following the firing of coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth with three games left in the regular season.

"New ideas are good ideas," Adelman said. "I have to give them something to come back to that excites them."

Adelman earned the promotion from interim to full-time head coach after a postseason run that saw the Nuggets get to a Game 7 against Oklahoma City in the second round before being knocked out of the playoffs. This with a thin bench and an injury-hampered starting five.

Now, the work begins to put his own stamp on directing the Nuggets. He's gathered a wealth of knowledge through an array of NBA coaching mentors such as his father Rick Adelman, Sam Mitchell, Frank Vogel, the late Flip Saunders and, of course, Malone.

"Very prepared," Adelman said of his level of readiness. "When you're around those people and you see how they run their business and their process, it's kind of a cheat code."

Fitness, Adelman maintained, will be a key to a fast start — and health come playoff time.

"Teams that get off to great starts usually at the end of the year have the best chance of being healthy in these big games," explained Adelman, who's working on rounding out his coaching staff. "But, yeah, that will be the expectation to come back in much better shape."

One of the areas the Nuggets aim to address in the offseason is depth. The Nuggets ran out of steam in the Thunder series after beating the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games to advance out of the first round.

"Can they achieve that (championship goal) as currently constructed? I think the answer, as (Jokic) said after the playoffs, and it was obviously no," Kroenke Sports & Entertainment vice chairman Josh Kroenke said. "So we need to take a hard look at how we can raise our ceiling going forward, whether that's internally or externally.

"If you look at the teams still playing... with a little bit of help, maybe a little bit of luck, maybe it could be us. But it's not. We're very conscious of that and how we need to go about improving."

Kroenke shocked the league last month when he fired Malone, the winningest coach in franchise history, and Booth after they helped bring home the franchise's first NBA title in 2023.

The Nuggets don't have a pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. It may prove challenging to add depth without breaking up the core of Jokic, Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Christian Braun.

"We're hungry to get better," Strawther said. "It's all fuel to the fire."

As for the style of play, Adelman will add some wrinkles but defense will always be an important principle.

"We have to get back to being an execution-based team," Adelman said. "If that takes away some of our pace numbers, or whatever the analytics want to say, I think that's OK if it wins you a game in May, as opposed to playing a game in December.

"The majority of the time, if you want to win big, you've got to play slow. You've got to be efficient. You've got to be clean. So that will be things we'll talk about throughout the summer, going to training camp."

Agencies via Xinhua