George Karl Out in Denver, Nuggets Rapidly Falling Apart

George Karl and the Nuggets parted ways in a bit of a shocker this morning. Denver won 57 games and Karl was the NBA’s Coach of the Year. He had a year left on his deal, but after the Nuggets lost their GM this week – to Toronto! – and Karl struggled to get a contract extension, kaboom, Denver ownership just pressed the reset button.

So we lost a GM now a coach what's next!?
— Kenneth Faried (@KennethFaried35) June 6, 2013

Can this all be attributed to Danilo Gallinari’s knee injury? Everything fell apart when he went down, and the Nuggets were beaten in the first round by the Warriors. If Gallinari doesn’t get hurt, do the Nuggets win the first round and retain their GM and extend their coach? Guess we’ll never know.

Oh, and if you missed the Gallinari link earlier this week, he might not be back until the All-Star break. He was their 2nd leading scorer last year.

Next up: Will they resign valuable reserve Corey Brewer? He’ll probably want more money than he deserves, and will get it elsewhere. Will Andre Iguodala opt-out? I doubt he’d leave $15 million on the table, but he’s only 29 and still one of the best defensive wing players in the league.

The Nuggets can save this by getting a coach who was similar to Karl – smart, and able to manage egos (like JaVale McGee, who is due $33 million over the next three years) and a deep playing rotation.

How’s this: George Karl ends up in Memphis and Lionel Hollins lands in Denver?