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If you can't get Gregg Popovich, perhaps stealing one of his top assistants is the next best thing. The Nuggets have opened up their coaching search as Spurs assistant Brett Brown interviewed for the Nuggets vacancy Sunday night, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
Brown traveled to Denver and met with Nuggets CEO Josh Kroenke and general manager Tim Connelly on Sunday night.
Melvin Hunt, who was part of George Karl's coaching staff, was also interviewed for the job, sources said. He's considered a future head coach in the league.
Brown was the fifth candidate to meet with the Nuggets after Hunt, Lionel Hollins, Brian Shaw and Vinny Del Negro.
Some background on Brown:
Brown has been an assistant for the past seven seasons under Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. Before a promotion to the bench, Brown had been the Spurs' player development coach for five years.
Brown was the Australian national coach and led the Aussies to a strong showing in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He coached in the Australian National Basketball League for 14 seasons. In nine seasons as a head coach, he won 149 games - the sixth most in league history.
Brown played his college basketball at Boston University under Rick Pitino.
If Brown were to sign on as the Nuggets' new head coach, it would be the second Spurs' assistant to leave the team this off-season to take on head job. Mike Budenholzer was recently hired by the Atlanta Hawks.
Woj also reported that Nuggets assistant Melvin Hunt has also interviewed for the head coaching position.
Had to steal this great find my Kalen over at Roundball - excellent video on Brett Brown:
Draft Update: Woj also reporting that the Nuggets are interested in either trading down into the early second round of the draft Thursday night or in trading their pick for a future pick:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Denver's pick at 27 is available, teams tell Y! Nuggets open to future 1st, or moving back into 30's. Nuggets like their young roster core.</p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/statuses/349182937033474048">June 24, 2013</a></blockquote>
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The Nuggets have worked out a slew of guys that could be taken in the early second round. Those names include: Erick Green, Ray McCollum, Mike Muscala, Tony Mitchell (if he fell), Jeff Withey (if he fell), Ricky Ledo, Colton Iverson, Nate Wolters, or Grant Jerrett.
A couple names that have yet to workout, but could be early second round possibilities: Isaiah Canaan, Glen Rice Jr., Tony Snell, and more.
What do you think Nuggets fans?