The key to making an “unorthodox” front-office structure work will come down to cohesion and communication.

A day after naming two vice presidents instead of one general manager, Nuggets team president Josh Kroenke addressed the media alongside his new hires Tuesday afternoon at Ball Arena.

“Most everything that has got us to this point has been unorthodox,” Kroenke said, noting the franchise has had success with first-time general managers and Nikola Jokic, the former 41st overall pick who plays with a unique style.

“So, everything about us is unorthodox. I think, from a process standpoint, it was important for us as an organization and myself and my father to really slow down, take stock in what the organization really needed at this point in time.”

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After nearly three months of deliberation, Josh and his father, Stan, settled on Ben Tenzer, the former interim general manager, as the team’s vice president of basketball operations. Tenzer has been around the Nuggets for 20 years. His most recent full-time position was previous general manager Calvin Booth’s No. 2 and general manager of Denver’s G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold.

“When I got this internship in 2005, I felt like I hit the jackpot. So, you can imagine how I feel now,” Tenzer said after starting his answer by thanking Josh and Stan Kroenke for the opportunity. “As an intern, I did every job here. I ended up going to law school, learning about the cap and contracts, met a few people. I was the GM of the Gold. So, I feel like just us two together in terms of collaboration, will be really healthy.”

Jon Wallace, Denver’s new vice president of player personnel, sat to Kroenke’s right. He previously worked a similar job in Minnesota and also served as the general manager of the Timberwolves’ G League squad. Prior to Minnesota, Wallace worked as a basketball operations associate and scouting coordinator in Denver, while the Nuggets were building around Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.

“Familiarity is always key in these situations,” Wallace said. “I mean being able to work with good people is always on the top of my list, knowing them prior. Knowing individuals that make up our office, front office, coaching staff, it just seemed sort of a no brainer. Obviously, having the ability to work with Jamal, Nikola, AG (Aaron Gordon), Mike, that’s always an added bonus as well.”

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So, what happens when Tenzer and Wallace inevitably see things differently at some point?

“I honestly think it’s really healthy to disagree, and we have a great group. Some of the front office is over there, and we disagree constantly,” Tenzer said. “But what’s important is, you know, we make a decision together, and we’re united. We have great leaders. … We have great people around to help navigate these things.”

That was a shared opinion on Day 1 of the new regime that will make massive decisions about the future direction of the franchise.

“You got to have tough conversations. I think having individuals who kind of have the temperature and kind of seek out the temperature amongst individuals in collaboration, I think it’s important,” Wallace said.

“Being in basketball is about adjustments. The league can sometimes become sort of a copycat situation. I commend these guys for having full vision and being aggressive just in the structure of what we have in place. … I think you got to be able to have that connectivity, to know who to talk to, how to talk to them.”

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It was Tenzer’s job to get the front office prepared for the NBA Draft, which starts Wednesday night, before Wallace joined the party. The Nuggets don’t have a pick, but Tenzer said the franchise will be aggressive in either getting into the draft or going after quality players who didn’t hear their name called after the draft concludes Thursday night.

After the draft, it’s time for the Nuggets to prepare for free agency and contract-extension discussions with Nikola Jokic, Christian Braun and Peyton Watson. Kroenke confirmed Jokic will have the opportunity to sign an extension this summer.

“We’re definitely going to offer it. I’m not sure if he’s going to accept it or not, because we’re also going explain every financial parameter around him, signing now versus signing later, be completely transparent,” Kroenke said. “That’s the way we always are. Then, he makes the best decision for himself and his family.”

Kroenke also raised eyebrows around Denver and beyond when he mentioned the possibility of having to trade Jokic in response to a Denver Gazette inquiry on how the franchise’s thinking on the second apron has evolved over the two years since the new collective bargaining agreement was signed.

“For us as an organization, going into that second apron, is not necessarily something that we’re scared of,” Kroenke said.

“There are rules around it that we needed to be very careful of with our injury history. The wrong person gets injured and very quickly, or in a scenario where that, I never want to have to contemplate that trade No. 15. And so, you know, we’re very conscious of that pushing forward, and, you know, providing the resources that we can when the moment arrives.”

The second apron makes penalties larger for teams that spend well above the luxury tax. 

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Denver’s new decision-making duo was united in saying they believed ownership would provide the necessary resources to field a contender in the coming years. It will be Tenzer and Wallace’s job to make the necessary moves to maximize the remainder of Jokic’s prime, and their boss thinks they’re ready to share that responsibility.

“I’m really excited to pair these two guys together, because I think they have really complementary skill sets,” Kroenke said. “They’re going to serve this organization incredibly well moving forward.”