Nuggets Reportedly Name Ben Tenzer, Jon Wallace as New EVPs After Malone, Booth Exits

The Denver Nuggets are continuing to shake up their front office after the surprising late-season firing of former head coach Michael Malone and general manager Calvin Booth.

The Nuggets are promoting Ben Tenzer to executive vice president of basketball operations and hiring Jon Wallace as executive vice president of player personnel, ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Monday.

Tenzer, previously the Nuggets' vice president of basketball operations, was named interim general manager after the franchise announced Booth's exit in April.

Wallace previously served as director of player personnel for the Minnesota Timberwolves and general manager for the team's G League affiliate.

Both Tenzer and Wallace will report to team president and governor Josh Kroenke, according to Charania.

Tenzer has worked with the Nuggets since 2005 and was formally hired by the team in 2013. Bennett Durando of The Denver Post previously reported he is considered "a salary cap expert" in the Nuggets' front office.

Wallace previously spent three years with the Nuggets' scouting department before leaving to join the Timberwolves in 2022.

Durando reported shortly after Malone and Booth's firing that "the head coach and general manager seldom engaged with each other outside of occasional meetings with Kroenke, an unwilling intermediary in their frayed relationship."

Kroenke has since spent the offseason reshaping his front office. Charania wrote that Tenzer and Wallace are set to serve "as the heads of their newly restructured basketball leadership group."

Miami Heat vice president of player personnel Eric Amsler and Golden State Warriors director of basketball operations Chuck Hayes have also interviewed with the Nuggets for potential front-office roles, Charania reported.

The Nuggets currently hold no picks in the 2025 NBA draft. Durando reported last week that Tenzer has been involved in preparing for the draft since before Booth's firing "in the unlikely scenario that Denver does want to get involved on draft night."

Durando also noted Tenzer, alongside assistant general manager Tommy Balcetis, were considered internal candidates to serve as the Nuggets' permanent GM.

The Nuggets have already found Malone's replacement in head coach David Adelman, who took over on an interim basis in April but was promoted to the permanent role in May. Tenzer, Wallace and Malone are now set to lead the franchise into this week's draft and the start of free agency next week.