The Denver Nuggets have been teetering on the brink of implosion since the beginning of the season, and they reached a new low on Tuesday with a dispiriting loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The loss came just hours after head coach Brian Shaw speculated that his team was tanking games in a subversive attempt to get him fired. Paranoid as that made him seem, the Nuggets' effort against the Sixers, in a game they trailed from the end of the first quarter onward, did nothing to debunk Shaw's theory.
At 19-30, the Nuggets are mired in the muck: nowhere near contention in the Western Conference, and lacking the young talent, building blocks or coherent long-term plan to breed success down the road.
Thankfully, none of this appears lost on their front office. The Nuggets have already made one move this year with an eye on the future, doing extremely well to haul in two first-round draft picks in a trade for center Timofey Mozgov.
If general manager Tim Connelly is to be believed, more such moves could be on the way.
"We're very, very aggressive right now," Connelly told The Denver Post's Benjamin Hochaman of his attempts to shake up the team's roster.
Team president Josh Kroenke had this to add:
(W)hile no one is happy with the status quo, we're watching it like hawks and have a good idea of what we think the issues are with our team and how to address them. Tim and the rest of our staff are working their tails off. And I know exactly what they think and where everything stands with our coaches and players. From my chair, it's just a matter of time when to make decisions (on possible moves). A good portion of deals is timing, and unfortunately our time frame has been drawn out due to different circumstances, mostly injuries. But I must say it again, our current state is not acceptable and our fans deserve better.
Whether the impending changes might include replacing their embattled head coach, however, Connelly wouldn't say.
"Brian has been dealt a very difficult hand, but we're an organization that's process-oriented, we don't make emotional decisions," he said. "Certainly none of us are happy with the lack of success we've had thus far. But we're firmly behind Brian, and we are hopeful we can quickly get back on the right track."
