Harden still dealing with pain but vision improved

On Monday afternoon, Calvin Booth had “reached his breaking point” with Michael Malone. Sources tell The Athletic that the most important players on the Denver Nuggets, including Nikola Jokic, had “grown frustrated and fatigued by Malone’s fiery ways.”

Jokic’s patience with the Nuggets’ situation was beginning to wear thin in mid-March, according to sources with other teams.

According to league and team sources, Booth told people close to him that it was time for the Nuggets to fire Malone. Sources say Booth had considered firing Malone heading into their eventual championship in 2023. The Nuggets signed Malone to an extension a few months after that title and he had two years remaining on his contract at more than $10 million per season.

After trying to make the Booth-Malone relationship work, Josh Kroenke decided to fire both of them on Tuesday.

“The stuff off the court was even worse than the stuff on the court,” one Nuggets source said. “Everyone felt the weight of it.”

Sources say the Kroenkes were also influenced by the Memphis Grizzlies’ recent decision to fire their own head coach, Taylor Jenkins, ahead of the playoffs.

DeMar DeRozan was frustrated by the Chicago Bulls loss in the Play-In Tournament. In his three years in Chicago, DeRozan’s Bulls have made the playoffs just once, getting eliminated by the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in 2022.

In each of the last two seasons, the Bulls have been eliminated by the Miami Heat in the Play-In Tournament. That’s not something DeRozan wants to repeat. And it seems likely to factor into the veteran forward’s upcoming free agency.

“My stance on wanting to be here is still the same but I just want to win,” DeRozan said.

DeRozan also seems to know he doesn’t have a lot of years left to accomplish his goal of competing for a title.

“Next time I play a game will be my 16th season,” DeRozan said. “You realize the window closes for you personally. I ain’t trying to play 25 years.”