The Memphis Grizzlies' matchup against the Denver Nuggets on April 11th just got a little more interesting. The game already had high stakes as the Nuggets only lead the Grizzlies and the other three teams they are tied with by 0.5 games for the West's fourth seed.
However, the Nuggets fired their long-tenured head coach, Mike Malone, in a move that was more shocking than the Grizzlies' firing of Taylor Jenkins on March 28th. The Nuggets took their firing a step further by firing their general manager Calvin Booth.
While both moves are shocking for teams that have clinched at least a spot in the play-in tournament in Western Conference, the Grizzlies move made more sense.
Taylor Jenkins was on borrowed time
The only similarity between the Grizzlies firing Taylor Jenkins and the Nuggets firing Mike Malone was the coaching tenures and timing towards the end of the season due to a negative trend. The Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins with nine games remaining in a move that was certain to happen in the off-season.
Mike Malone just recently led the Denver Nuggets to an NBA championship in 2023, so his firing takes the cake, especially with only three games remaining in the regular season.
The writing on the wall for Taylor Jenkins happened last summer when general manager Zach Kleiman revamped most of his coaching staff. The revamping of the coaching staff included bringing on board current interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo. Reports recently surfaced that Kleiman flew to Paris to recruit Iisalo to Memphis.
Those same reports also noted that Iisalo was a hot commodity as he was offered the head coaching job for the Washington Wizards. He ultimately chose to come to Memphis as an assistant, which makes the firing of Jenkins make even more sense.
Truth be told, there is never a truly right time to make a drastic change, such as firing a coach, but the Nuggets somehow topped the Grizzlies' efforts in that department. With the Grizzlies failing and nine games remaining with a coach that was probably headed out anyway, their timing makes more sense by the day.
It is possible that Mike Malone was headed out the door in Denver, too, as current Phoenix Suns head coach Mike Budenholzer was fired two seasons after winning a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks as well.
Also, factoring in the Nuggets firing their general manager makes this situation completely different from any seen in the history of the NBA. The NBA is a business, and when teams have pressure to compete with the best players in the league, no position is safe at any time, and both the Grizzlies and Nuggets have proven that lately.