Will moving on from Michael Malone fix anything for the Nuggets?

Less than two years ago, Michael Malone was at the top of the NBA world. 

After leading the Denver Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history in June 2023, he was introduced at the championship parade as "the Lakers' daddy," a moniker he assumed after eliminating Los Angeles in the Western Conference Finals. As thousands of fans screamed, he told them he wasn't satisfied. "We don't want one [championship]," Malone said. "We want two."

Fast-forward to Tuesday, with the Nuggets in fourth place in the Western Conference and only three games remaining in the regular season, the team made a shocking move, firing Malone and general manager Calvin Booth. 

Malone was at the helm of the Nuggets for 10 years and was the franchise's winningest coach (510-394). Assistant coach David Adelman will serve as the interim coach. Booth, who was on an expiring contract, had served as general manager since 2020. 

The Nuggets' decision is surprising for many reasons. The most stark among them? The timing. 

The Nuggets are considered championship contenders and a major shake-up at such a critical juncture is eyebrow-raising. Interestingly enough, another Western Conference contender did the same thing just over a week ago, with the Memphis Grizzlies firing coach Taylor Jenkins. 

For the Nuggets, the question is, will this disrupt the team's continuity? In the West, only two games separate the third-seeded Lakers from the eighth-seeded Grizzlies, meaning the Nuggets are among six teams that are in danger of falling into the play-in tournament.  

Or, as the Nuggets front office clearly hopes, will this move jolt a team that had lost four games in a row amid Jamal Murray missing five games because of a hamstring injury, helping them