Calvin Booth and the Denver Nuggets held extensive talks on a contract extension and he was convinced it would inevitably be agreed upon, sources tell The Athletic. Booth made a final push to increase his salary that still would have been significantly less than Michael Malone's more than $10 million per season average.
The Nuggets have been widely known to pay front office executives below typical market value. Both Masai Ujiri and Tim Connelly left the Nuggets for jobs with other teams at higher compensation packages. Booth was promoted in 2022 to replace Connelly.
Sources tell The Athletic that Booth's authority to make moves declined and the Kroenkes pulled the extension offer that he had believed was a mere formality.
Booth was without a contract for the 25-26 season and that undercut his ability to fire Malone. Josh Kroenke instead decided to fire both Booth and Malone.