Kiz: When Michael Malone took the Nuggets’ coaching job, he inherited a team that lost 52 games and desperately wants to trade its leading scorer, point guard Ty Lawson. In Cleveland, David Blatt coaches the self-proclaimed world’s best player in LeBron James and a Cavaliers team that Las Vegas oddsmakers have installed as the early favorite to win the NBA championship in 2016. But both coaching jobs are a pink slip waiting to happen, if you ask me.
Hooch: That’s the reality: With hiring comes firing. I remember attending Gary Kubiak’s opening Broncos news conference and wondering how will this end. Two likely options: He wins a Super Bowl and retires on his own terms … or his dear friend John Elway fires him. As for the other new Denver coach, I sure hope it ends in him making the Nuggets relevant again. This is a two-year project, at minimum. The dude will have to be patient. And, I suppose, so will Josh Kroenke. What’s your take on LeBron and the Daniel Craig-Vladimir Putin hybrid that is Blatt?
Kiz: It was cool when James left the Miami Heat and returned home to Ohio. He proved Thomas Wolfe wrong, even if James couldn’t beat Golden State in the NBA Finals. But lost in the sticky-sweet syrup of the feel-good fairy tale written about LeBron’s return was the fact that James wanted to be a king in a place where all bow and kiss his ring, from coach to general manager to franchise owner to a city desperate for attention. James treated Blatt like his minion. And that stunk.
Hooch: No question. Great reporting by ‘s Marc Stein, whose writing captured an irascible and almost bully-like LeBron, when it came to dealing with Blatt during the Finals. As for who has it tougher, Blatt or Malone, the follow-up question is: What’s your definition of tough? With Malone, making the playoffs in the tougher conference with Denver’s current roster — or Denver’s potential revamped go-young roster — is daunting. Blatt? The Cavs will make the playoffs in the East if Blatt just used Twitter and Snapchat during each game. But again dealing with LeBron for two playoff months and not going all Captain Queeg? That sounds tougher to do than win in Denver.
Kiz: I’m not sure Malone was the best choice to coach the Nuggets. But I’m sure of this: Malone is a better coach than Blatt, and pleasing Nuggets president Josh Kroenke will be far easier than answering to the whims of King James’ ego. While Malone has no chance to win a championship, I expect he will still be employed with the Nuggets in 2017, at a time when Blatt is long gone from Cleveland. So who has tougher job? Blatt, without a doubt.
Hooch: I was very vocal that I thought Scott Brooks should be Denver’s hire. Overpay him, entice him, whatever him. But Malone is a solid coach and a solid mind. But I’m with you, Kiz, and I’ll take it a step further — I think Blatt will be unemployed before Malone coaches his first game for the Nuggets.
