Nuggets GM Calvin Booth Says He Doesn't 'have Any Regrets' Despite Impending Exit

Former Denver Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth responded to the team's surprising decision to not extend his contract beyond the 2024-25 season, just days before the end of the regular season.

"I am greatly appreciative of the opportunity," he told Tony Jones of The Athletic. "I don't have any regrets. I did my job to the best of my ability."

Booth's contract wasn't extended alongside the decision to fire head coach Mike Malone, a shocking move from Nuggets' ownership given the timing. Denver is currently 47-32 on the season and the No. 4 seed in the West.

Malone, 53, was 471-327 in 10 seasons with the Nuggets, with six playoff appearances (seven had he remained on the job through the end of this season) and a title.

Booth, 48, had spent the past three seasons as general manager, replacing Tim Connelly after he departed to become the president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

There were inklings that change might be coming to the Nuggets, however, even if the in-season timing was completely unexpected.

According to ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk, "When the Nuggets entered this season, sources told ESPN that there was growing tension between Malone and Booth that grew into a 'cold war.' Since the team won the championship, the Nuggets have gone with younger role players such as Christian Braun and Peyton Watson around the team's core of Nikola Jokić, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon. Veterans such as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown left in previous summers during free agency to sign bigger deals elsewhere."

That tension between Malone and Booth likely revolved in part around Malone wanting to keep as many good, veteran players as possible, while Booth chose to avoid getting too deep into the luxury tax, perhaps at the behest of ownership.

But other issues were at play:

"I think there's more to [the team] than has been accomplished so far," Josh Kroenke, vice chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, told Altitude TV on Tuesday. "How much more is in that group? I don't think that I know the answer to that, I don't think anyone knows the answer to that. But I think I have a belief that there's more in that group that can be accomplished and I look forward to seeing what they can do."