The Denver Nuggets have no intention of making coaching changes anytime soon. On Wednesday, the franchise announced that they had locked head coach Michael Malone on a new deal that will keep him with the franchise for the foreseeable future.
The terms of the extension have not been disclosed, but Nuggets beat writer Mike Singer reports that Malone’s contract is now running through the 2024-25 season. He had one year left on his previous contract.
Malone is being rewarded for an impressive run the Nuggets had in recent years. They made the Conference semifinals in all of the past three seasons after a five-season drought. This included reaching the Conference Finals in 2019-20 when they lost the champions Los Angeles Lakers.
Despite having multiple impactful players on the sidelines, the Nuggets are also playing well this season. Their All-Star guard Jamal Murray is out for quite some time with a torn ACL, while their talented forward Michael Porter Jr. is out for the season with a back injury. Denver is currently sixth in the Western Conference with a 43-30 record.
Michael Malone served as an assistant for several NBA franchises, including the New York Knicks and the Golden State Warriors, before landing a head coaching job with the Sacramento Kings in 2014. He was fired by the Kings midways through his second season with the franchise but quickly bounced back to take the job with the Nuggets ahead of the 2015-16 season. Malone has a head coaching record of 305 wins and 274 losses. He is 20-23 in the playoffs.