The Nuggets are hiring Dave Joerger as their top assistant coach under David Adelman, adding a veteran bench voice to a staff that is still taking shape after last season’s run to the playoffs. Shams Charania of reported the move on July 27, 2026.
Joerger, 52, has been in the NBA as an assistant or head coach since 2007, and Denver is getting a coach who has already led two teams from the sideline. The Nuggets had been looking for an experienced No. 2 behind Adelman, and this hire gives them one.
That search matters because Denver is trying to steady itself quickly after finishing 54-28, entering the playoffs as the third seed in the Western Conference and going out in the first round. Adelman took over as head coach when Michael Malone was fired last April, so the move for Joerger is part of a broader reset rather than a simple staffing tweak.
Joerger’s path back to a top bench job also explains why this hire drew attention. He interviewed in June for the lead assistant opening, and Marc Stein reported a couple weeks ago that Denver was viewed as an increasingly likely landing spot. He also drew interest from Melbourne United and Paris Basketball, but chose to stay in the NBA in an assistant role instead of making the move overseas.
That decision points to the role Denver is offering and what he is leaving behind. The top assistant job under Adelman is not just a title; it is the second chair on the bench, a job built around helping manage the day-to-day work of a coaching staff and carrying more of the load behind the head coach. Joerger has done that work before, first in Memphis, where he spent several years as an assistant before being promoted in the 2013 offseason, and then in Sacramento, where he took over as head coach and went 98-148 before being dismissed in 2019.
His stronger run came with the Grizzlies, where he compiled a 147-99 record over three seasons and reached the playoffs each year before being let go in May 2016. Since then, he has spent the past several years as an assistant in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, keeping him inside the league while moving from lead job to support role. Denver is betting that experience translates again now, with a coach who has already handled the pressure of being in charge and is willing to step back into a defined No. 2 seat.
The remaining question is how quickly Joerger and Adelman settle the division of labor. Denver wanted a seasoned assistant for a reason, and the answer will be measured not by the title, but by how the bench functions when the season starts.
