Nuggets Hire Former NBA Champion Barea on Coaching Staff Starting the 25-26 Season

The Denver Nuggets, early on Tuesday morning, made an interesting addition to David Adelman’s staff. It was announced that they hired 2011 NBA Champion JJ Barea to be an assistant to the staff. This is a great hire by Adelman and the Nuggets to get another European voice onto the bench and his championship experience to the 2023 Champions. Let’s talk about how Barea is going to help the Nuggets starting the upcoming 25-26 season. 

Barea’s Resume 

Barea played in the league for 14 seasons from 2005-19. Like I mentioned in the intro, J.J. won the 2011 championship with the Mavs against the Heatles. He has head coaching experience in his home country of Puerto Rico as well, so he has experience as a coach to help out Adelman. He also briefly served as the Mavericks’ Player Development coach. 

This is a great option for the Nuggets in the long run because Barea can bring some of Rick Carlisle’s teachings to the Nuggets, so we could see a hybrid system of Rick Carlisle’s system and Adelman’s system in Denver, with Jokic being the focus of the offense. Sign me up for that, please, and thank you, as Jokic’s playmaking would be even more unlocked in a Carlisle system. 

Final Thoughts 

After years of Michael Malone and his teachings, the J.J. Barea move is a step in the right direction to get a new voice for these Denver Nuggets players. This should be a unique combination with Adelman and J.J. in the long run, and it should be a perfect marriage with Jokic as well. The Nuggets have been big winners this offseason with all of the moves they have made up to this point. Follow along with Total Apex Sports for more on the Nuggets and the rest of the league for all of the Free Agency and Offseason moves.