Nuggets To Hire J.J. Barea As Assistant Coach

The Nuggets are adding former NBA guard J.J. Barea to their coaching staff as an assistant under new head coach David Adelman, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link). Barea will be a front-of-bench assistant in Denver, Charania adds.

Marc Stein first reported the Nuggets’ interest in Barea, who had been coaching the Guaynabo Mets in his native Puerto Rico over the past couple years before being let go in May.

Barea, who turned 41 last week, played in the NBA from 2005-19, spending the majority of those 14 years in Dallas and winning a title with the Mavericks in 2011. Following his retirement, he spent a year as a player development coach for the Mavs in 2021/22.

As Tim MacMahon of ESPN notes (via Twitter), Adelman was an assistant coach in Minnesota when Barea played for the Timberwolves during the only non-Mavs stint of his career from 2011-14. Adelman reached out to Barea to recruit him for the role, MacMahon reports.

The Nuggets have also reached an agreement to hire Rodney Billups, the younger brother of Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, as an assistant, agent Andy Miller tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Rodney worked on his brother’s staff in Portland from 2022-24 before spending this past season as a Nets scout.

Denver is also said to have interest in Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley for a role on Adelman’s staff. While the Nuggets were granted permission to speak to Dudley, there has been no word yet on whether or not he’ll leave Dallas for Denver.