The Nuggets have 99 problems. But maybe the biggest one?

Josh Kroenke.

He’s too close to the team for its own good.

After Josh formally introduced David Adelman as the 23rd head coach in Nuggets history last week, we chatted about the damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t aspect of franchise ownership.

Be hands-on with every aspect of the team, Kroenke told me, and ownership is viewed as meddling. Stay in the background, and diehard fans wonder if the ownership loves the team as much as they do.

Does Josh, a hooper at heart, love the current Nuggets players too much to make the meaningful change this team needs?

Don't get me wrong. My respect is immense for Stan and Josh Kroenke, the father and son team that guides a sports empire from Los Angeles to London. They have served the rooting interests of Colorado fans very well. There are championship banners for the Nuggets, Avs and Rapids with their fingerprints on them and their business savvy behind them.

And don’t we all wish Dick Monfort would take a nice profit and end our baseball misery by selling to Kroenke Sports & Entertainment the Colorado Rockies?

“I’m not going anywhere near that one,” Josh said, refusing to touch a question so hot it was smoking.

When the Avalanche signed center Brock Nelson to a reported three-year, $22.5 million contract extension on Wednesday before he hit free agency, two thoughts immediately came to mind.

No. 1: The work of a busy general manager is never done. So why are the Nuggets so slow to hire one?

No. 2: The Kroenkes leave the hockey decisions to their hockey people. With the Nuggets? Not so much.

If Stan and Josh Kroenke were as passionate about hockey as they are about basketball, I honestly believe Jared Bednar would no longer be on the bench as the Avalanche’s coach.

The Avs had everything they needed to win the Stanley Cup this season except a coach who knew how to hold a lead. During its first-round exit, Colorado had the lead against Dallas in the third period in three of its four losses.

But go ahead and blame general manager Chris MacFarland if you want for trading Mikko Rantanen in a deal that was a straight financial decision, the kind of decision that probably speaks more to how franchise ownership, rather than the front office, operates.

After a 125-120 loss to Indiana on April 6, what sounded to my ears like frustration that bordered on resignation in the voice of Michael Malone was more than a gut feeling that his decade-long tenure of coaching the Nuggets had run its course.

But the firing of Malone and general manager Calvin Booth two days later seemed more like an act of passion to squeeze a little more juice, and perhaps a fistful of dollars, from as many home playoff dates as possible.

Josh, who I’ve been reminded is the KSE vice chairman, did the dirty job of telling Malone and Booth goodbye, then was left to explain those moves to the media.

But I believe it was Stan, the Nuggets owner and governor, who primarily decided to abruptly pull the plug on Malone and Booth.

“My dad leads the charge and I tend to things on a daily basis from his perspective,” Josh Kroenke said.

The Kroenkes aren’t afraid to spend generously between the lines on playing talent until somebody like Rantanen pushes them too far. They prefer to pinch pennies on everything else, from practice facilities to the salaries of front-office executives.

Masai Ujiri and Tim Connelly did good work for the Nuggets as basketball architects. But, in the end, they were both treated by the Kroenkes as disposable and easily replaceable parts.

While the glowing praise for interim general manager Ben Tenzer indicates the Kroenkes might go the frugal route and promote from within, the pipe dream of many Nuggets fans is for the team to facilitate a reunion this summer with Connelly, I kindly ask: Pass the dutchie.

After leveraging a dalliance with the Washington Wizards, Connelly left the Nuggets for Minnesota in 2022 to get paid the money he deserved. After the Timberwolves lost to Oklahoma City in the Western Conference finals, Connelly told the media in Minnesota: “Think you guys are stuck with me.”

The Nuggets are kidding themselves if they think the best path to the championship is to run it all back with the blind faith that point guard Jamal Murray turns into the All-Star he never will be, the creaky back of Michael Porter Jr. ages well and David Adelman develops Julian Strawther into a top-of-the-line sixth man. Good luck with all that happening.

“I need to be very hands-on in periods of transition … But (then) you need to let people do their jobs,” said Josh, who admits he feels more pressure than ever with Nikola Jokic trying to add to his championship legacy.

What he needs to do is take a step back and hire a legitimate president of basketball operations.

General manager of a franchise with championship aspirations is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year job.

The urgency to promote Adelman to permanent coach before hiring a GM was bassackwards in more ways than one.

The NBA draft is set for June 25, and there’s a real chance superstars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant could be traded the final week of this month.

While they aren’t coming to Denver, a blockbuster trade of either Antetokounmpo or Durant could set off a domino effect, opening the market for other talent for a savvy president of basketball operations to leverage to the Nuggets advantage.

Adelman and Tenzer?

The Nuggets are going to entrust what remains of Jokic’s prime to a first-time coach and unproven general manager?

With respect and kindness, I offer two words of advice to Stan and Josh Kroenke:

Do better.