Tim Connelly, Masai Ujiri laid foundation
Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth is more interested in doling out credit than taking any.
The first-year GM knows the foundation of his team’s success was laid well before he took over last summer, and in some instances, before he even arrived as the assistant GM in 2017.
That shouldn’t, and won’t, minimize the shrewd work Booth did in putting the finishing touches on what could be a championship roster. His peers recognized his contributions when he finished tied for third in executive of the year voting. But, as an executive who prides himself on learning from the past, Booth is savvy enough to understand what he inherited.
He saw firsthand what former team president Tim Connelly did in helping construct the foundation of a championship roster, building the culture from the ground up before his abrupt departure to Minnesota last summer. Even a version of the Kentavious Caldwell-Pope trade, which Booth ultimately executed shortly after assuming the job, was under consideration before Connelly left Denver.
As the Nuggets march into their first-ever NBA Finals, Booth knows it’s taken years to get to this point.
“(Tim) deserves a ton of credit,” Booth told The Post this week. “I also think Josh (Kroenke) and (former GM) Masai (Ujiri) deserve credit. … They did the Carmelo (Anthony) trade, and the Carmelo trade ended up being a lot of different assets that helped this team get to this point, one of them being Jamal (Murray) with the pick-swap. I feel like each iteration of the front office has helped contribute to get to this point.”
Yes, a pick-swap included in the 2011 Anthony blockbuster yielded the No. 7 pick in the 2016 draft, which eventually became Murray. The Kentucky product was significantly higher on Denver’s draft board than seven, and Connelly’s front office considered itself lucky he was still sitting there.
Ironically, Anthony officially retired Monday. Hours later, the Nuggets secured their first Western Conference crown with a series-clinching sweep of the Lakers. Murray became the first player to average 30 points in a conference final on 50% shooting from the floor, 40% from 3-point range and 90% from the free-throw line.
Murray’s selection was, of course, preceded by the franchise-altering 2014 draft, when Denver unearthed an unheralded, out-of-shape Serbian with a preternatural gift for passing. Around the time the Nuggets drafted Nikola Jokic with the No. 41 pick, in fact guaranteeing they’d take him if he was still there, Connelly had laid out a vision to pore over Europe and establish strong relationships in the region, multiple sources said.
In 2013, the Nuggets acquired the draft rights to Joffrey Lauvergne. On the same night they drafted Jokic, they also traded for Jusuf Nurkic. When the Nuggets moved on from Ty Lawson in 2015, Greek forward Kostas Papanikolaou was part of the return package from the Rockets.
Connelly’s Jokic pick wasn’t entirely random. The through-lines in the NBA rarely are.
When Booth was a 23-year-old rookie with the Wizards, Connelly was in Washington’s video room, scouring film, scouting, and building his network around the NBA. When Booth’s circuitous path returned him to Washington five years later, there was already a friendship building.
“He really started to help me out and mentor me as far as the scouting aspect of it,” said Booth, who accompanied Connelly on a handful of pre-draft scouting events even as a player. When Booth retired after the 2008-09 season, it was Connelly, then in New Orleans, who helped Booth land his first pro scouting job with the Pelicans.
“I think his perspective is a unique one,” Connelly told The Post. “Played in the NBA after redshirting at Penn State speaks to his work ethic, and how hard the journey was. He played different roles throughout his career. I think he has an understanding and an empathy for players on the roster, 1 through 15.”
After four years in Minnesota, including that 2016 draft when Booth identified Murray as a prospect with immense potential, he teamed up with Connelly yet again. Together, they planted the seeds of a championship contender.
“He’s a really, really bright guy with a really unique and advanced viewpoint towards the game,” said Connelly, citing Booth’s work-life balance and the support system he has with his family and wife, Keisha.
“A brilliant basketball mind,” he added.
As the Nuggets inched closer to contention, Booth was there for each inflection point and learned some of Connelly’s tendencies. He consistently prioritized talented, high-character players. Booth said the 2018 draft, where the Nuggets landed Michael Porter Jr. at No. 14, served as a significant moment in their rise.
“That was not an easy decision,” Booth said. “… There was some discussion in the room prior to taking him. I know Mr. (Kroenke) was always 100% on board, Tim was always 100% on board with the concept, but he wanted to take the input of everybody in the room before he made the decision. I think drafting Michael was pivotal.”
The Jerami Grant trade was an ambitious attempt to land a versatile defensive forward who could protect Jokic defensively, but that gambit backfired when Grant bolted in free agency. Less than two years later, the Nuggets struck gold with the Aaron Gordon trade. In Gordon, they gambled that a forward miscast in Orlando as a playmaker would thrive in a secondary role alongside Jokic. Gordon’s presence made the pieces align.
“Every decision that we made, Cal had an impactful voice,” Connelly said.
When Murray tore his ACL weeks later, their grand design was put on hold, only reigniting this season with a healthy roster intact and Connelly off to Minnesota. Booth’s moves, in landing Caldwell-Pope, signing sixth man Bruce Brown and drafting rookie Christian Braun, strengthened a roster that was already in a position to contend.
Asked about his relationship with Connelly, whose fingerprints remain all over Denver’s organization, Booth couldn’t ignore the groundwork he’d laid.
“It’s good,” Booth said. “He’s obviously rooting for our team … I feel like he still has strong connections with a lot of people, including myself, in the organization. Those will always be there.”
Once the Finals begin, Connelly will be watching closely.
“They’re all my friends,” he said.
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Source: The Denver Post
