malone-nuggets.jpg
Getty Images

The Denver Nuggets have agreed to a contract extension with head coach Michael Malone, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Malone's deal was set to expire after the 2022-23 season, but this new contract will see him staying in charge for the foreseeable future. 

In seven seasons with the Nuggets, Malone has helped transform a franchise that hadn't made it past the first round of the playoffs since 2009, let alone come close to making the postseason at all since 2013. In Malone's first three seasons with Denver, the team's record improved each year, and by his fourth season the Nuggets' five-year playoff drought was broken, as they advanced to the conference semifinals. The following season the Nuggets made a run to the Western Conference finals in the Orlando bubble, and have remained a playoff fixture each season.

Led by the meteoric rise of reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, who has only ever been coached by Malone after being drafted in the second round in 2014, the pair have helped reshape the perception of the Nuggets.

This season is perhaps the most impressive of Malone's tenure, as the Nuggets are sixth in the Western Conference (43-30) without Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. sharing the floor together for a single game. With two key players out for the majority of the season, the Nuggets have still managed to stay afloat, thanks to the dominant play of Jokic and the coaching of Malone.

Malone's success with the Nuggets already has him with the third-most wins in franchise history with a 309-237 record, and his .465 postseason win percentage is already better than the two coaches earning the most wins with the Nuggets (Doug Moe and George Karl).

With Jokic, Porter and Murray all signed to long-term deals, the Nuggets should be a championship-contending team for the next few years, and Malone's new contract will ensure he'll be the guy in charge to try and coach this team to its first NBA championship.