The Denver Nuggets shocked the NBA world by firing head coach Michael Malone and announcing they would not extend the contract of general manager Calvin Booth on Tuesday, with just six days left in the regular season. The Nuggets are just two years removed from winning the NBA championship and are currently in fourth place in the Western Conference.
However, after a four-game losing streak, Denver is now just a half-game above the logjam of four teams that are currently tied for fifth. ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gives the Nuggets a 46.9% chance of sliding into the play-in tournament.
With a closing schedule that includes road games at the Sacramento Kings and Houston Rockets, sandwiched around a home date with the Memphis Grizzlies — who also made a recent surprising coaching change, firing Taylor Jenkins on March 28 — the Nuggets will be hard-pressed to hold on to their playoff spot in the wild Western Conference postseason race.
Our NBA insiders answer the big questions about these firings, including what it means for Denver’s playoff hopes and the future of three-time MVP Nikola Jokic.
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The Nuggets moving on from Malone and Booth with six days left in the season is _____.
Ohm Youngmisuk: Shocking but not totally blindsiding. Change was likely inevitable, but the timing was a massive surprise. Tension had been brewing between Malone and Booth for quite some time, so much so that sources described it as a “cold war.” Denver has lost four straight and is just 11-13 since the All-Star break. Players such as Jokic have displayed frustration on the sideline. Vibes have been low, according to sources. And ownership believed it was time to move on from both men just days before the end of the regular season to give the team a jolt ahead of a postseason run with the best player in the world.
Bobby Marks: Stunning. I swore to myself to never use that word, especially after the Luka Doncic trade in February. But here we are two months later. Yes, there were rumblings that change was coming in Denver, but not six days before the regular season ended.
Michael C. Wright: No different than Memphis firing Jenkins, the winningest coach in franchise history: ridiculous. Denver is just two seasons removed from the only championship in franchise history, and you diminish the Nuggets’ chances for a second title by firing the coach who got you to the mountaintop? This can’t be a popular move within Denver’s locker room.
Chris Herring: Even more surprising than Memphis’ decision to fire Jenkins, given the Nuggets won the entire thing just two years ago. Jamal Murray has also missed Denver’s past five games, which better explained the current skid to some extent. Apparently not, though. It’s a stunning move to fire a coach with more wins than anyone over the past five seasons — even more so to do it in the final week of the season.
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Zach Kram: A sign of just how much the franchise has botched its post-championship competitive window. The team has lost key contributors without replacing them, suffered from behind-the-scenes strife and made an unprecedented decision to blow up a contender’s front office and coaching staff this late in the season. As long as Jokic is in his prime, the Nuggets are dangerous. But what looked like a potential dynasty in 2023 is flailing two years later.
How does this change Denver’s postseason projections?
Kram: I was already pessimistic about the Nuggets’ playoff chances because of the team’s 20th-ranked defense — the worst for any team with a winning record — and Murray’s uncertain return. Now it’s even harder to envision a deep run from the 2023 champs.
Marks: A month ago I was asked which team could contend with Oklahoma City. The answer was Denver. This morning before Denver cleaned house, I did not think they could get out of the first round. Their recent stretch of games and inability to get stops defensively would be a major concern even if the Nuggets kept Malone.
Herring: Perhaps the firings provide a spark, but I have a tough time thinking a change this late in the game propels Denver, just because there isn’t sufficient time to make wholesale schematic or style changes. If anything, it gives me less confidence in a run from Jokic and the Nuggets.
Wright: It certainly doesn’t help this team, which still has a shot to secure home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. With Murray’s extended absence due to a right hamstring issue, his availability to start the postseason is in question. Expectations already weren’t high for the Nuggets, and the firing of Malone further diminishes this team’s prospects because it takes away continuity.
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Youngmisuk: Denver is in a fight to stay out of the play-in. The Nuggets desperately need Murray to come back healthy after missing five straight games because of a hamstring injury. If Murray is healthy when the postseason starts, the Nuggets can beat anyone with Jokic playing the best basketball of his career. He needs more help. The Nuggets are hoping interim coach David Adelman will get the team out of its slump, but a healthy Murray is vital for Jokic and the Nuggets to make another deep run.
More shocking firing: Malone or Jenkins?
Herring: Malone. He won the franchise’s lone title just two years ago and has won more than anyone over the past five years. His record speaks for itself. Both firings were shockers, and I expect we’ll learn far more in the coming days. But even with that info, short of Malone having some sort of static with Jokic, I’m not sure it will make this decision any more understandable; it just seems too destabilizing with so little time left.
Kram: Malone. The writing had been on the wall in Memphis for some time, since the Grizzlies replaced five of his assistants last summer. The main surprise was the timing, not the firing itself. But Malone was such a successful mainstay in Denver that he seemed likely to remain Jokic’s coach for years to come.
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Wright: Malone, because of what appears to be a lack of real understanding from ownership of how the franchise reached this point. Denver wants to win now but has very little flexibility and assets to make such lofty goals realistic. It’s worth pondering whether this is just the beginning of a larger tear-down.
Youngmisuk: Malone, simply because teams do not part with championship coaches this late in the season, especially when vying for a top-four seed. The move does give Denver a chance to see what Adelman can do. And with more openings expected this summer, Denver gets an early look at the 43-year-old, who has been on the radar for head coaching positions in the past.
Marks: Can I say both? I was part of the Nets front office that fired Byron Scott in 2004 after two straight NBA Finals appearances. But that was 41 games into the next season. Both Jenkins and Malone had endured injuries to their star players (Ja Morant, Jamal Murray, Nikola Jokic) since the All-Star break and were positioned to be a playoff team. Plus, in the case of Malone, winning a championship should mean something as it relates to job security.
What does this mean for Jokic’s future in Denver?
Marks: One thought came to mind after Malone was fired: I hope the Nuggets ownership ran this by Jokic. The three-time MVP still has three years left on his contract (he has a player option in 2027-28) but that does not mean anything if a player is unhappy. The true sign of what the future holds is once the NBA Finals conclude, when Jokic is eligible to sign a three-year, $212 million extension.
Herring: This is the question. Was there anything happening behind the scenes between Malone and Jokic? Taking this step with Malone, particularly in the final week of a season that isn’t even remotely lost, is a massive gamble unless you know Jokic is okay with it. Jokic is among the least dramatic stars in the sport, but this is a highly unusual move involving a title-winning coach.
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Wright: It’ll be interesting to find out considering he’ll soon be eligible to sign that three-year extension. Jokic came into the league with Malone as his head coach, who then made the decision to run Denver’s offense through the eventual three-time MVP. Jokic doesn’t reveal much about his personal life. But it sure seems like loyalty would rank high with Jokic. Ownership showed none with this latest move.
Kram: Probably nothing, because Jokic has never seemed like the sort of personality to demand a trade. But Malone has been the Nuggets’ coach for Jokic’s entire career, so now we’re entering uncharted territory for the best player in the world.
Youngmisuk: Jokic isn’t going anywhere. While Malone is the only NBA head coach Jokic has ever had, the Nuggets made this move in hopes of still maximizing what is left of this season for Jokic. Denver ownership still believes the Nuggets can make a run this postseason given that they have the best player in the world. Ownership considers Adelman as the architect of the offense. The Nuggets will do everything they can to make things better around Jokic.
Besides replacing Booth and Malone, what should be the Nuggets’ offseason priority to get back to championship status?
Wright: Defense needs to be prioritized, and the club could help itself by upgrading the bench. But it’s unclear how the Nuggets will get there with minimum contracts, which are needed since they’ll be a luxury tax team for the fourth year in a row and expected to be hit with a hefty repeater tax penalty.
Marks: Because Denver is top heavy in salary (67% of the cap next year is tied up within Jokic, Murray, Porter Jr. and Gordon), Denver only has the $5.6 million tax mid-level exception to use in free agency. In trades, they are not allowed to take back salary because they are projected to be over the second apron. The Nuggets are also limited to what they can send out in a trade with regards to draft picks. They have a first- and second-rounder in 2032 available to send in a trade.
Kram: Build a bench that doesn’t collapse every time Jokic leaves the floor. The Nuggets have a very strong starting lineup but minimal depth behind their top five, particularly after Christian Braun’s successful promotion to the starting group. Maybe youngsters such as Peyton Watson and Julian Strawther will continue to develop. But the Nuggets also need better free agent decisions after whiffing on the likes of Dario Saric and Reggie Jackson, while losing championship contributors Bruce Brown and Jeff Green. Denver’s net rating is plus-9.9 with Jokic on the floor, the mark of a championship contender, but minus-8.7 without him, which is the same as the Pelicans’ 28th-ranked net rating.
Herring: A far better defense that doesn’t require the offense to be as efficient as it’s been for the majority of the season with Jokic. And with Murray and Michael Porter Jr. largely unable to keep the reserve unit afloat when Jokic is off the floor this season, Denver clearly needs better bench play too. The Nuggets, who rank fifth in 3-point percentage but dead last in 3-point attempt rate, also need far more volume from long range.
Youngmisuk: The Nuggets have to surround Jokic with the best pieces possible, whether that be with the supporting cast and a better second unit and potentially a new coaching voice from the sideline. Maximizing the championship window around Jokic has to be the priority. Nothing else should matter.
More than halfway into his first term, Mayor Mike Johnston finally met with his own Bicycle Advisory Committee and reiterated a familiar promise: Denver can increase road safety without taking any convenience away from drivers. “We want this to be a city where it is safe and easy to get around by bike or by foot,” Johnston told Westword after the meeting. “We want to build infrastructure and a culture that makes that easier, and we think we can do that without making it more difficult for drivers.”
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The mayor is wrong. If Denver is serious about making our streets safer for everyone — people driving as well as people walking, biking, rolling or taking transit — then we have to be honest about what that requires. Real safety improvements will sometimes mean slowing cars down, reallocating space or asking drivers to take a slightly longer route. In other words, we must be willing to trade a bit of convenience for a lot of safety.
We already make this trade-off all the time. Parking in front of the fire hydrant across from my house would be extremely convenient, but I don’t do it because it would put my neighbors at risk if a fire broke out. I don’t enjoy going through security screening every time I attend a Denver City Council meeting, but I accept it because it keeps a critical public forum safe. These small inconveniences are simply part of living in a community where everyone’s well-being matters.
So why is the idea of asking drivers to accept minimal inconvenience — a few extra minutes, a block or two of walking from their parking spot to their final destination — treated as politically impossible, even when it could prevent deaths and life-altering injuries?
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Denver committed to Vision Zero nearly a decade ago, pledging to eliminate traffic fatalities. Yet year after year, the death toll remains stubbornly high, topping eighty lives lost annually since the pandemic. The reason is not mysterious: City leaders have consistently prioritized driver convenience over safety, even as people continue to die on our streets.
For generations, Denver’s street designs have catered not just to driving, but to driving dangerously. The majority of streets on the city’s High Injury Network — just 5 percent of streets where half of all traffic deaths occur — are major arterials like Colfax, Federal, Colorado, Speer and Alameda. These corridors are engineered to move as many vehicles as quickly as possible. People walking and biking are left to navigate speeding traffic with minimal protection, crossing up to eight lanes just to reach the other side.
We know what works. The data is unequivocal: On streets like these, the most effective safety improvements reduce the space available for fast-moving vehicles. Road diets, narrower lanes, shorter crossings and dedicated space for sidewalks, bike lanes and bus lanes all make streets safer for everyone — including drivers — by bringing speeds down to survivable levels.
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And yet, Mayor Johnston’s recent decision to abandon the planned road diet on Alameda Avenue is only the latest example of the city retreating from proven safety measures because they might inconvenience drivers. The city noted that its revised plan for Alameda would save drivers an extra sixty seconds of driving time, compared to the original road diet.
The mayor must confront a hard truth: We cannot keep people safe without changing the status quo, and the status quo is built on prioritizing speed and convenience over human life. Denver cannot have it both ways.
So the real question for Mayor Johnston is this: How many lives is Denver willing to sacrifice to preserve driver convenience?
So far in 2025, we have lost 87 people — and counting.
NEW YORK — The NHL hits a roster freeze at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, so with defenseman Egor Zamula clearing waivers and being assigned to the American Hockey League, it left a roster spot open.
Forward Denver Barkey has been called up.
Drafted by the Flyers in the third round of the 2023 NHL draft, Barkey turned pro this season and has been impressive while skating primarily on the wing for Lehigh Valley of the AHL. The 20-year-old has 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 26 games for the Phantoms, primarily playing on the wing with center Lane Pederson and winger Alex Bump.
“I think right from the start, he’s played very well,” Flyers assistant general manager Brent Flahr recently told The Inquirer. “On the production side, he makes plays, he works, and the details are great. Such a smart player. He’s got to get stronger and build up his body to handle the grind and but so far, so good.
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“Down there, he’s been arguably our best forward a lot of nights, and coaches love them plays, plays a lot. He’s certainly going in the right direction.”
» READ MORE: Flyers Q&A: Brent Flahr dishes on prospects Porter Martone, Jett Luchanko, and more
Well, the direction now is east to New York City ahead of the Flyers’ matchup with the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon (12:30 p.m., NBCSP). The kid from Ontario is in line to make his debut at the World’s Most Famous Arena.
“I call him like a little mini [Travis Konecny],” Flyers director of player development Riley Armstrong said of Barkey over the summer. “He’s all over the puck. He’s grimy when he doesn’t have the puck. He’s always working to get the puck back.
“He’s really good with his stick picking pockets, transitioning, and his eyes are up; I don’t think a little guy like that skating around, his head down, is going to last very long in the game.
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“But when you watch him go into corners, and he’s not afraid of that, he’s quick to get in, he’s quick to get out.”
Some have questioned Barkey’s size at 5-foot-10, 173 pounds, but no one questions his grit, moxie, will, and determination. Last season, he notched 25 goals and 82 points in 50 regular-season games before adding another nine goals and 20 points in 11 postseason games for London of the Ontario Hockey League.
On June 1, he captained the Knights to the Memorial Cup championship despite suffering a high-ankle sprain in the OHL Final. In the finale of the Memorial Cup, against the projected No. 1 for this June’s draft, Gavin McKenna, and Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League, Barkey drove play and scored a pair of goals.
A month later, he was at the Flyers development camp but did not participate. He did, however, try.
“[Barkey] always comes to me every morning, ‘Hey, do you think you can get me out on the ice?’ No, no, you’re done,” Armstrong said with a chuckle in early July.
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The rest helped. He was again impressive at the Flyers’ rookie camp and in a game against their Rangers counterparts in early September in Allentown.
Barkey opened eyes with his speed, hockey IQ, puck possession and patience, and high-end passing ability. Looking completely healed from his high-ankle sprain, the forward used his quickness, leverage, and ability to win pucks to beat the defense at every turn and notched a goal.
It appears that his summer of eating Italian giant subs — Mike’s way, minus the onions — at Jersey Mike’s with his buddy, and former London teammate, Oliver Bonk, to add weight paid off. Phantoms coach John Snowden called him “a heck of a hockey player” in September.
“Continue to get bigger, stronger,” Barkey said of his summer plans at development camp. “It’s a big jump next year. I’m going to be playing against older men and strong guys. So, continuing to get stronger, faster, and I think the biggest thing is just using my brain and then finding a way to adjust. It’s a different game in pro.”
And Barkey has adjusted well to the pro ranks, skating on the wing of the Phantoms’ top line, which drives play and is relied on for offensive swings. His fellow winger, Bump, was actually the one many thought would be called up.
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The kid from Minnesota, who led Western Michigan to the NCAA championship in April, was pegged by everyone, including The Inquirer, to break camp with the Flyers; however, he was sent down after a poor main training camp. After a slow start in Lehigh Valley, he now has 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in 26 games in Allentown.
On the first of Bo Nix’s four touchdown passes against Green Bay, he did what he does more frequently than any quarterback in football.
Nix escaped from the pocket and took off running. He moved up and to the left before hitting Michael Bandy for a 20-yard catch-and-scamper.
The next three touchdowns, though, are where the Broncos offense can dream about a deep postseason run or even more.
Nix, operating from the gun, delivered strikes of all shapes and sizes and did so with clean footwork in the pocket.
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He identified coverage, took a short, one-step drop and fired a perfectly placed low ball to Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Then a three-step drop to get the ball up and down with beautiful pace and timing to Courtland Sutton one-on-one up the right sideline.
Nix polished off the fourth touchdown when he five-step dropped, hitched up in the pocket twice and uncorked a rocket up the seam for Troy Franklin on a motion and route concept the Broncos have made hay on most of the year.
The Packers game represented a breakout as Nix completed 23 of 34 passes for 302 yards and the four touchdowns, but his game’s been heating up more broadly over the past month.
He had an efficient day in a much different style against Las Vegas, completing 31 of 38 passes and engineering three battering-ram touchdown drives. He threw for 616 yards in the two weeks before that in wins over Washington and Kansas City.
In those four games, Nix has completed 69.5% of his passes for 282.5 yards per game and thrown five touchdowns and an interception. Before that stretch, he completed 60.9% and averaged 212 yards per game.
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What’s changed? Start from the ground up.
“I think his footwork has got a lot better,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said Thursday. “And the way he handles himself in the pocket, trusting the protection. We’ve talked about it all year and the last four games he’s done a really good job of that.
“He’s moving when he needs to and he’s hanging in there when he needs to.”
Head coach Sean Payton earlier this season said the quarterbacks get some specific footwork drilling done during a normal game week but not a ton. They’ll work a particular concept or drop between periods, but for the most part, the work is plan-specific.
Nix, though, has been working on his own pocket presence in his own ways in recent weeks.
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“I think he’s probably one of the best … at learning from mistakes, and looking in the mirror and seeing what his weaknesses are,” tight end Evan Engram told The Post.
“He’s sitting in there, he’s trusting the protection, he’s letting it rip. And that’s something that he saw. And he worked on. And like – I can’t say how hard that is. I’ve never done it in my life. You’ve got freakin’ monsters rushing you, every play. And credit to the O-line, too.
The staff also appears to be doing a better job of helping get Nix into good rhythm. Part of that is by playing more frequently from under center. The touchdowns outlined above came out of shotgun, but one commonly held belief is that playing from under center helps keep footwork clean because a quarterback is forced to do it coming back from the center.
Since the Broncos returned from their bye week, the uptick has been notable.
Denver averaged 29.4% of offensive snaps under center the first 11 games. Over the past three, the number is 42.8%.
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Nix has attempted nearly half as many passes from under center the past three games (25) as he did in the first 11 (51). That’s partly because he’s playing more from under center, though Denver’s under center pass rate has also jumped up from 24.5% over the first 11 games to 29.3% the past three weeks.
Nix only completed 1 of 6 passes against Green Bay for 16 yards from under center but the week before, he was 10 of 10 for 71 yards against Las Vegas.
“Each game is different relative to when we look at gun runs, under center runs, try to self-scout ourselves enough to where there’s enough play-action maybe under center, drop back,” Payton said between Vegas and Green Bay, adding that he thought Nix made a quick transition to playing under center even though he hardly did it in college.
“I think that hasn’t been a big learning curve. I think it’s gone pretty smooth.”
Particularly since the bye week, the Broncos have leaned more and more into it. Payton and Lombardi say the usage is dependent on individual game plans.
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The longer this uptick continues, though, the more it looks like a philosophical shift.
Broncos reporter Luca Evans contributed to this story.
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