According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, another Denver Nuggets assistant coach is leaving the team. Just days after it was announced that Dee Brown and Ed Pinckney would be leaving Denver, today we learn that Noel Gillespie has been offered a position as the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets D-League team, the Greensboro Swarm. This marks the fourth assistant coach from last season to leave the team as offensive assistant Chris Fleming has moved on to the Brooklyn Nets.
Sources: Denver assistant Noel Gillespie is finalizing deal to become head coach of Charlotte’s new D-League affiliate in Greensboro.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 15, 2016
While the quantity of coaches leaving the staff is a bit alarming don't read too much into it. In Gillespie's case this is without a doubt a promotion (as has generally been the case with all the departures) and often times gaining a position as a D-League head coach is just the next step on your way to becoming a lead assistant and eventually an NBA head coach. In his three years in Denver he served as assistant coach and advance scout. According to the team website, Gillepsie's role included being "responsible for scouting future opponents, scouting reports and developing the Nuggets players throughout the season and offseason." One would have to assume at this point the Nuggets will have to look to bolster their staff.
After losing Pinckney and Fleming, the Nuggets promoted Wes Unseld Jr to lead assistant and also retained Micah Nori who is currently coaching the Summer League Team, outside of those two though, only Ryan Bowen and Steve Hess (and Hess is chiefly responsible for strenght and conditioning) remain among the assistant coaches from last season so it is reasonable to assume the Nuggets will look to shore up their coaching ranks. An in-house candidate to keep an eye on would be John Beckett who was the player development assistant last season.