Kroenke says Booth is running Nuggets, team deletes tweet about promotion

Nuggets governor Josh Kroenke held a long awaited press conference on Friday at Ball Arena, diving into all kinds of topics surrounding the teams in Denver his family owns.

While there’s plenty to unpack, including details about the TV situation, new practice facilities and whether or not the Nuggets and Avs are important to the Kroenkes like the Rams and Arsenal, this was supposed to be about Tim Connelly leaving for Minnesota and Calvin Booth now running the Nuggets.

It started that way, and eventually worked back to it, but there was a curious development along the way. What exactly is Booth’s official title?

“I think in the wake of Tim’s departure, there’s a tremendous opportunity for some people here in the building, starting with Calvin Booth,” Kroenke said. “I’ve always thought very highly of Calvin and I think he’s going to do a tremendous job for us.”

The team’s official account then sent out a tweet welcoming Booth as the new President of Basketball Operations, but quickly deleted it. A screenshot of the deleted tweet is below.

A source told DenverFan’s Jake Shapiro after the press conference that Booth does not officially have that title… at least not yet. Booth is still the general manager of the Nuggets, but has not yet earned Connelly’s former role.

Calvin Booth is NOT the President of Basketball Operations. The Nuggets seem dedicated to Booth but for now they’re rolling with him as a top dog on basketball decisions while Booth retains his title as GM. There’s no POBO for now.

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) June 3, 2022

While the details of Booth’s current contract are unclear, it’s been speculated he only has one-year left on his deal. Perhaps Kroenke wants to iron those details out before an official promotion is in place. Still, it’s odd the team would tweet then delete something of that nature. Kroenke did add he expects more announcements “soon” regarding contractual security for Booth and the rest of the front office.

He also continued with praise for Booth, noting he likes the fact a former player is now in charge of day-to-day decisions.

“I think his playing experience brings a unique background that we haven’t had around here in quite awhile. I know he’s studied a lot of things from his playing days and early executive days. Calvin’s a hard worker,” Kroenke said. “He’s shown me he can that make ruthless decisions when he needs to.”

It’s no secret Connelly was a big believer in “not skipping steps” in building a championship team. Could Booth be the guy who’s willing to make bolder moves? Possibly. As Kroenke said, he’s not afraid to make a “ruthless” decision. Could that mean trading someone like Michael Porter Jr. and his monster contract for a better piece to surround back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic with? Perhaps.

And Kroenke made it clear multiple times the future of this organization revolves around Jokic — as it should.

“Our stated goal, we have a two-time MVP, is competing for the NBA championship. And bringing one to Denver for the first time. That goal has not changed,” Kroenke added.

For now, it appears Booth will be responsible for helping Kroenke achieve that goal. Even if he hasn’t quite yet earned the title Connelly once had — or signed the contract needed to make it official.
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