As the Nuggets begin their 2025 offseason, one of the first orders of business is to hire a new general manager to replace Calvin Booth and oversee basketball operations. The team had not yet moved forward with a search as of the end of the season, according to a team source. So, where does the franchise start?
The internal promotion route
Based on the Kroenkes’ actions since firing Booth, Ben Tenzer is the leading candidate in this category. He attended Denver’s first game without Booth alongside the ownership group in Sacramento, and he was named interim general manager the following week. Tenzer has been GM of Denver’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, for the last two seasons. He first worked for the Nuggets as a student intern out of Boulder in 2005-06.
Assistant general manager Tommy Balcetis also could be considered if the Kroenkes choose to look within. Born in Lithuania, Balcetis has been with the team since 2013.
If the Nuggets ultimately make an internal hire for both the GM and head coach positions, it would indicate that firing Booth and Michael Malone was enough to fully cleanse the organization of its divided workplace culture, in their view — that a fresh slate has already been established, without needing an outside perspective.
Second in command today, first tomorrow?
Quite a few NBA front offices operate with both a general manager and a president of basketball operations, the latter of whom is generally atop the decision-making hierarchy. Denver hasn’t had a POBO since Tim Connelly left for Minnesota, meaning its general manager hire will likely be entrusted with a good deal of authority.
Fittingly, one of the more consistently murmured names in recent weeks has been Matt Lloyd, the current Timberwolves GM under none other than Connelly. Minnesota has been one of the NBA’s boldest front offices in recent years, from the 2022 Rudy Gobert trade to the shocking 2024 exchange with the Knicks headlined by Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle.
Fans of the rebuilding Washington Wizards have adopted an online catch phrase recently: “Let Will Dawkins cook.” The NBA is not letting Will Dawkins cook. Washington tumbled four spots in the draft lottery this month, a devastating blow to a long-suffering team that had positioned itself as favorably as possible to win the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. The Washington GM works in conjunction with Monumental Sports president Michael Winger. Are the Wizards so down on their luck that a popular young executive might think twice?
There are plenty of other examples in front offices around the league. Clippers general manager Trent Redden has done an admirable job turning lemons into lemonade with POBO Lawrence Frank. Mike Gansey has helped build the Cavaliers back into an Eastern Conference contender as GM and second-in-command since 2022. Elton Brand, 76ers GM under Daryl Morey, was reportedly linked to an opening in Atlanta recently.
Recently fired general managers
A handful of experienced NBA executives became available in April along with Booth. Perhaps most notably, the Pelicans fired David Griffin, a championship-winning general manager (Cleveland, 2016) who ran basketball operations in New Orleans for six years. His tenure there was ultimately torpedoed by the fickle durability of 2019 No. 1 pick Zion Williamson. Griffin continued to draft well — Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Dyson Daniels, Yves Missi — but his final season was ravaged by injuries and a questionable trade of Daniels.
On the other side of that Daniels trade was Landry Fields, who nonetheless lost his job in Atlanta at the end of this season. The former Knicks and Raptors player spent five years with the Hawks, including three as general manager, drafting Zaccharie Risacher first overall in 2024. He has previous experience as a G League GM with the Austin Spurs. Also out of a job recently: Monte McNair, who mutually agreed to part ways with Sacramento just two years after winning NBA Executive of the Year for building a third-place squad.
The top shelf
The Kroenkes already owe Malone more than $20 million for the remainder of his contract, and their luxury tax bills are piling up — penance for an expensive roster that isn’t getting any cheaper. Needless to say, this is an unlikely category.
But if they decide there’s no such thing as too expensive, Warriors architect turned ESPN analyst Bob Myers remains the most coveted individual on the market. It’s been widely speculated that he might float back into a front office someday. And as it’s been noted, Myers said on television this January that “if I was building a team to win a championship, (Nikola Jokic) would be my first pick.”
Then there’s the familiar name around town: Tim Connelly. Basic logic precludes him from legitimate candidacy. He, too, is for high-end shoppers. The Nuggets already allowed their former POBO to slip away for more money in Minnesota. Now as an opt-out clause looms in Connelly’s contract, it stands to reason that to lure him away from a Timberwolves team making its second straight Western Conference Finals, one must pay the man. Like, pay him more than what Denver already didn’t pay him.
Here’s one more wild card, because why not? Andy Elisburg has been Pat Riley’s right-hand man for years. There’s no telling what it would take to pry him away from Miami, where he has worked since 1988 and held the GM title since 2013. But if the Nuggets want to shoot for the stars, one of the most universally respected executives in the league probably deserves a call.
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