The Nuggets are betting that two Daves will be better than one, and let’s hope.
Because if this was David Adelman’s idea, the man’s got some serious crown jewels. Nikola Jokic’s coaching staff got a little bit better this week. Although it’s not hrd to imagine that David Adelman’s job security as head coach just got a little bit worse.
, the Nuggets have landed Dave Joerger to be David Adelman’s “coach-in-waiting.” Sorry. To be Adelman’s “co-coach.” Dang it! I meant “lead assistant coach.”
Whatever. If you’ve been pining for a veteran NBA voice with playoff experience to start whispering in Adelman’s ear, Joerger’s your man.
New Dave has served as a head coach or assistant with five NBA franchises since 2007. The 52-year-old Joerger had a fairly successful run as the head man in Memphis from 2013-16 (147-99, three playoff berths) followed by a less successful run right after that in Sacramento (99-148, no playoff appearances), before he hooked onto Doc Rivers’ staffs in Philly and Milwaukee.
Josh Kroenke gave Adelman the dreaded public vote of confidence a few months back after a team built to win it all couldn’t win four games out of seven against a Minnesota roster that was missing Anthony Edwards.
At first blush, hiring Joerger now feels an awful lot like hedging bets with your head coach — and right after a massively disappointing playoff series during which said coach got schooled on about eight different levels by Chris Finch.
The Nuggets will put on their for David and Dave, of course, the same one they wore for years in front of the cameras while Michael Malone and Calvin Booth were snarling at one another behind the scenes.
All is not well when you’re the only NBA franchise swimming in the second apron of the salary cap. Although, on paper, this is the type of tweak that could actually work.
The presumption is that Joerger is boarding the S.S. Kroenke to serve as Adelman’s Vic Fangio, his Vance Joseph. New Dave is regarded as something of a defensive mastermind in hoops circles, although his units’ statistical results over the last decade have been, shall we say, more inconclusive on that assumption.
Joerger’s Grizzlies ranked among the NBA’s top 10 in defensive rating in 2013-14 (103.8 points given up per 100 possessions) and 2014-15 (101.2), only to slip to 20th (107.1) in Year 3, his last in Bluff City. His defenses over three seasons as the head coach in Sacramento checked in at 26th, 27th and 21st, giving up between 110-111 points per 100 possessions.
As an NBA assistant the last three seasons, the defensive variance has largely continued. While working with Rivers, the Bucks ranked No. 12 in defensive rating (112.7) in ’24-25 but dipped to 26th (118.3) this past season.
a fresh set of eyeballs certainly couldn’t hurt. Especially after Minnesota forward Jaden McDaniels so gleefully stuck his fingers in them this past April.
“Go after Jokic, Jamal (Murray), all the bad defenders,” McDaniels infamously offered after his Timberwolves snatched a soul-crushing 119-111 victory at Ball Arena in Game 2 of Denver’s first-round capitulation. “Tim Hardaway (Jr.), Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team. Just go at them. Yeah, they’re all bad defenders.
“They don’t (have) people that can defend the rim. And if (Jokic) is there, we’re still more athletic than them. And (we’ve) just got to be able to finish when we do (get to the rim).”
Did they ever. During a first-round series loss that rattled the Rockies, the Nuggets allowed 29.8 shot attempts in the restricted area — the most of any Western Conference postseason participant, according to NBA.com tracking data. Their 20.5 field goals given up in the restricted area against the Wolves were also rock-bottom in the West bracket.
History says Joerger should help on that front. And help Jokic, Lord willing.
Fun fact: The new Nuggets assistant’s Memphis teams allowed the fewest field-goal tries in the restricted area of any NBA defense (24.9) during the regular season in ’15-16, and ranked second in fewest allowed in ’14-15 (24.4) and ’13-14 (23.9). Joerger’s first two Kings squads as a head coach allowed the fourth-fewest attempts among NBA defenses in the restricted area in ’16-17 (23.9) and the fifth-fewest in ’17-18 (25.1).
Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph then, Jokic and Aaron Gordon now. Hopefully. If New Dave can somehow get Jamal Murray on board with the whole “grit and grind” part of the equation, don’t just give that man an extension. Hand him a Nobel Prize.
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