As its wheels lifted off the runway in Dallas, the plane carrying the Nuggets back to Denver was also charting a new course for a season in peril.
The Mavericks had just finished hammering the Nuggets, 112-92, on Dec. 12, dropping Denver to 9-16. It had been another woeful night for an offense languishing in the bottom half of the league. Something had to change.
“We weren’t where we wanted to be,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “I said, ‘You know what? Nikola Jokic had an unbelievable rookie season as a center, not as a power forward.