Nuggets continue spring cleaning, fire Calvin Booth

The Denver Nuggets fired head coach Michael Malone on Tuesday morning with just three games left in the regular season. He wasn’t the only person at the top getting the boot, as more news from ESPN’s Shams Charania shortly followed that general manager Calvin Booth was also on his way out of town.

Full clean out: The Denver Nuggets are also firing general manager Calvin Booth, sources tell ESPN. Michael Malone and Booth both out today. pic.twitter.com/FvqOAFyOKy

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 8, 2025

Booth has been with the Nuggets since 2017 when he was brought on as the assistant GM before being promoted to the team’s general manager in 2020. He helped make key moves for the 2022-23 championship team, including the signing of Bruce Brown and the trade for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

From a draft standpoint, Booth selected Christian Braun, Peyton Watson (via trade), Jalen Pickett (via trade), Julian Strawther (via trade) and  DaRon Holmes II (via trade). In the three offseasons in which he called the shots after Tim Connelly went to the Minnesota Timberwolves, he was always looking for trades on draft night.

Josh Kroenke, the Vice Chairman of Kroenke Sports and Entertainment, released a statement regarding the firing of Booth.

“I want to thank Calvin Booth for leading our front office for the past three years and most importantly for helping put the final pieces in place for the roster
that delivered Denver and our fans their first NBA Championship. Calvin’s knowledge of the game, his passion for scouting, and his long history as a player and executive in the NBA helped lift our organization to new heights which we will continue moving forward. We are grateful to Calvin for his eight years with the Nuggets and know his place in Nuggets history as our first championship winning GM will be honored for years to come.”

However, the moves Booth made in recent years have set the Nuggets up for failure and wasted valuable years of Nikola Jokic’s prime. He wasted 2-year contract with a player option on Dario Saric, he signed Reggie Jackson to a contract that paid him $5 million annually that he had to spend three second-round picks to get rid of, and he signed Russell Westbrook to a 2-year contract with a player option this past offseason.

Tensions have been rising within the Nuggets organization as of late, as seen with an emphatic reaction from Nikola Jokic on the bench recently in a loss to the Golden State Warriors. The players that Booth has brought on to replace those who left after the 2023 championship have not been enough to maximize the greatness of Nikola Jokic, and the team has been paying the price.

It was also reported that leading into this season, Booth and the Nuggets organization were not able to agree to terms on a new contract extension, so his contract was set to expire after this season. Booth took a gamble on himself, and it backfired.

Denver Nuggets and Calvin Booth failed to reach terms on an extension that both parties felt was satisfactory before the 2024-25 season got underway, sources tell me. Booth, instrumental in helping the franchise capture a title, was on an expiring contract.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) April 8, 2025

No announcement has been made on who the acting GM will be in the wake of Booth’s firing.

The Nuggets will be in action Wednesday night against the Sacramento Kings on national television, as the entire NBA world will have eyes on the new-look Nuggets just days before the playoffs.