Nuggets unite ex-Kings

The Denver Nuggets took 105 days to find their new head coach. Now that they’ve agreed to a deal with Michael Malone (pictured), they’re off and running. Or are they? Malone is a no-nonsense, defensive-minded coach, not exactly the fast-paced tactician many expected them to go after to capitalize on the mile-high altitude. The team announced Malone’s hiring Monday. He beat out in-house candidate Melvin Hunt, who had served as interim coach after Brian Shaw was fired on March 3. Malone was let go by Sacramento in December after going 39-67 in parts of two seasons with the Kings. The person that fired Malone was GM Pete D’Alessandro, who recently left Sacramento to take a position as the Nuggets’ senior VP of business and team operations. .