Nuggets make Michael Malone one of NBA's highest-paid coaches with contract extension, per report

Malone led Denver to the NBA title earlier this year

Fresh off a championship, the Denver Nuggets are signing head coach Michael Malone to a contract extension, per ESPN. Malone has been head coach of the Nuggets since 2015, and in that time he took what was a 30-win team the season prior to him arriving to a championship squad.

Malone's been instrumental in building Denver into the championship-contending team it is today, and as a result the Nuggets are ensuring he's around for a few more years in hopes of securing more titles. Malone's deal will make him one of the highest-paid coaches in the NBA, per ESPN. 

As the fourth-longest-tenured coach in the NBA behind Gregg Popovich, Erik Spoelstra and Steve Kerr, Malone has put together an impressive coaching resume in Denver. He holds a 414-339 coaching record, with a .550 win percentage, which ranks 11th amongst active coaches in the NBA. Aside from the title last season, he's coached the Nuggets to four other postseason appearances, including a Western Conference Finals trip during the Orlando bubble in 2020. 

Already this season Malone and the Nuggets are off to a hot start, sitting first in the Western Conference with an 8-2 record. Denver' franchise centerpiece, Nikola Jokic, should once again be in the MVP conversation and the Nuggets look like a team on a mission to win a second-straight title. 

With Malone in tow for the foreseeable future, and a nucleus centered around Jokic and Jamal Murray, Denver should be positioned to compete for championships for several more years to come.