How Calvin Booth became a Nuggets general manger after he was promoted from a NBA player to a journeyman.

Calvin Booth invited Monte Morris to dinner during the six nights that separated his first NBA Draft as general manger of the Denver Nuggets. The 27-year-old point guard performed admirably as Denver’s floor general while starter Jamal Murray He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) for the 2021-22 seasons. Murray will return to the center with two-time MVP center Nikola Jokic for this campaign, and despite mounting trade speculation about the man sitting across the table, Booth said he viewed Morris as a key piece of the Nuggets’ chase toward the Western Conference title.

“We talked about what this year looked like, what we need to do, what his role was gonna be,” Booth told Yahoo Sports. “And you realize that … that’s a scenario, frankly, I didn’t keep my word.”

The Nuggets and Wizards had already discussed a deal surrounding the Wizards’ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope during the hours before last February’s trade deadline, when Booth’s predecessor, Tim Connelly, led negotiations with Washington. Booth, 46, had risen through the scouting ranks to Connelly’s trusted second in command and shared the idea Jokic needed more defensive specialists at his side to double as ball movers and perimeter marksmen. Then the week of May’s NBA Draft Combine, as league personnel flocked to Chicago, Timberwolves ownership made Connelly an offer to spearhead Minnesota’s front office that he couldn’t refuse. The league’s unforgiving clock ticked toward draft night anyhow, leaving Booth in pole position of the Nuggets’ basketball operations and overseeing this build around Denver’s generational talent from Serbia.

Booth made contact with Tommy Sheppard, the general manager of the Wizards, shortly after his meal with Morris. The entire league knew Caldwell-Pope was still available. A significant portion of NBA transactions are the result of groundwork that was laid during an earlier window of activity. These are the trappings that come with a stable marketplace. Booth is respected by NBA executives as much for his constitution as his scouting skills.

“Everyone that he’s touching, everyone likes him,” said Arturas Karnisovas, the Bulls’ executive vice president after spending three years alongside Booth in Denver.

So a sense of dread flooded Booth’s conscience when it became clear Washington was drawing a line in the sand. Morris and his ability to slot alongside All-Star Bradley Beal in the backcourt, was the Wizards’ asking price for the veteran known as KCP, plus longtime Nuggets reserve Will Barton. The son of a cop and a nurse, Booth was doing someone wrong not too long after being awarded his profession’s ultimate power: final say.

“That’s the part of the business that sucks,” Booth told Yahoo Sports. “And I kinda beat myself up about that a little bit. It was a learning experience. You don’t know how these things unfold and you have to watch what you say in those kinda instances. You don’t want those to start to stack up. One of these I already have. If you have three or four or five or six times where it’s like, ‘You said one thing, and then another thing happens,’ that’s where it ends up being the NBA you don’t want to think about.”

A softness fills Booth’s light-green eyes. They can be seen looking beneath his bushy eyebrows while he talks. There’s quite a difference, after all, between watching and paying attention — studying instead of seeing. “Naturally, I am quiet and observant,” Booth told Yahoo Sports.

After the Wizards drafted Booth (6’11”) from Penn State in 1999 with the sixth pick, they shaded the background. He spotted the rare opportunities when a giant with only 366 games on his resume could speak volumes and be heard.

“I probably had cringe-worthy moments,” Booth said, cracking a smile inside his goatee. “I wasn’t afraid to voice my opinion even from a low position, where guys were probably like, ‘Why is this guy talking? He’s not even good. He’s not even playing.’”

Booth only saw 4,447 regular season minutes in his decade with the league. That’s a far cry from the hours he spent looking at games from the sidelines. Booth’s penultimate season, 2007-08 saw him only 240 minutes over 31 games. Booth then became obsessed with the NBA Draft. Booth was also struck. Derrick Rose’s nightly athleticism at Memphis. He was astonished Kevin Love’s pinpoint passing at UCLA. Booth’s foray from journeyman center to pro scout to chief executive of the Nuggets’ front office was far less apparent.

Booth’s tenure as a Wizard ended halfway through his second year. Washington traded Booth to Dallas in the trade package that included Juwan Howard. Booth posted the best numbers of his career: 7.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2 blocks and 1.3 assists in 19.5 minutes over 15 games — all would have marked career-highs over a full campaign.

“I was just an OK NBA player. And that might be the highest of the compliment, if I’m being self-deprecating,” Booth said.

The reserved big man still left an impression on Mavericks staffers, “He’s just a good guy. He’s low-key, smart, diligent, works his ass off,” Dallas owner Mark Cuban told Yahoo Sports. It was the owner’s first full year in control of the franchise, and Cuban, as Cuban does, was overjoyed when his Mavericks reached the 2001 playoffs, drawing the fearsome Jazz duo of Karl Malone and John Stockton to a decisive, first-round Game 5. Cuban sold a lot of tickets to Dallas fans, who flocked to Salt Lake City to see Booth play.

This was the dawn of Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Michael Finley ascending into Western Conference contention, “and Calvin Booth came through when it mattered most,” Cuban said. When Finley isolated Stockton just above the right elbow, and the defense collapsed, he found Dallas’ dutiful center waiting patiently along the baseline as a critical safety valve. Booth immediately flipped the series-winning layup through steel in just over 10 seconds.

“A lot of big guys in that situation would have probably turned to the rim, because Finley was really good at that turnaround shot, and just went to the rebound,” Booth said. “All I literally did was keep my eyes open. That was the only thing that took any kind of extra talent.”

After Utah’s two attempts went wide on the other side of the floor, Cuban and the Mavericks’ entire bench sprinted around the court like a scene ripped from March Madness.

His first trade delivered Booth a career highlight, and that summer brought Booth’s first taste of free agency. Seattle saw a 25 year-old rim protector who was looking for a long-term home and offered Booth a $34 million six-year contract. Booth quickly learned how valuable ingredients can be, especially when a franchise already has a straw to stir their drink.

“I didn’t get paid because I was that good. I got paid because of Steve Nash,” Booth said. “Dallas was a platform to let people see the motor, the work and playing with Dirk and Finley. Nash was the one orchestrating it all. There are some players who do well, as coaches. But you could make a list of the players for whom those contracts were signed. And I’m on Nash’s list.”

Booth never blossomed into the SuperSonics’ center of the future, remaining more of a steady presence than a game-changing force. Nate McMillan, then-Seattle’s head coach, saw the Penn State product as a valuable resource for his bench.

“He could play with anybody because he had a high basketball IQ,” McMillan told Yahoo Sports. “He had a feel for the game and for his teammates.”

Rashard Lewis, a Seattle starter, recalled Booth’s studious nature in film sessions, delivering questions and observations that expanded the game’s geometry.

“Observers are very intelligent,” said Antonio Daniels, another Sonics teammate. “He was a watcher. Let me look, let me see. ‘OK, this is what they’re doing? Let me watch how to attack it, how to scheme against it.’”

Booth made his return to the postseason in 2007, having rejoined the Wizards one season earlier. That second stint in Washington also reunited Booth with the charismatic assistant video coordinator he’d befriended during his rookie season. A young Connelly had grown into the Wizards’ director of player personnel. They became close friends through a shared passion for ideas. Booth began inviting Connelly on scouting trips when his playing schedule permitted.

They flew from the United States to Ireland to take part in a program called Show Racism the Red Card Booth and Roger Mason Jr., a Wizards player, worked with lrish potentials. Booth won the hearts of locals by winning hands after hand at Dublin poker rooms. They also traveled to Treviso, Italy for their player evaluations. “He immersed himself in local culture,” Connelly said. “He’s very intellectually curious.” Booth offered book recommendations for their flights, pitching Connelly on some authors’ new theories about subject matter beyond the sport.

It was the 2008 Treviso Eurocamp, that next spring, which crystalized Booth’s faculty for the front office. Booth stared intently at the court, as if he was waiting for his name to be called.

“It was just cool how much he loved to be in the gym and scouting,” Connelly said. “It wasn’t a chore to him.”

After sifting through footage of top college prospects like Russell Westbrook And Brook Lopez?, 76ers bench big moonlighting as an evaluator, this event brought Booth’s first glimpse of Goran Dragic, Serge Ibaka And Nicolas Batum. Although there were many opinions in the scouting community about the French swingman’s character, Booth believed that Batum would be able to find his feet in the league Booth had been following for a decade.

“I just knew how he moved and looked like an NBA player, with his decision-making, and he was a very good athlete,” Booth said.

Talent is easy to qualify, but it is the ability to quantify — and project — that separates a draft find from a true steal. “It was obvious, he’s got a great eye for talent,” Connelly said. Batum was 25th in the draft. However, he had the seventh highest win shares of any class.

Booth refused to lead a full-time life in scouting when he retired. He made camp in Columbus, Ohio, coaching teenagers during summer circuits and decided building an AAU program was the ideal outcome to further those players’ growth. He drove to Cleveland twice per week to lead practices.

“I wanted to see what would happen if you really went about creating a program and developing guys the right way,” Booth said. He enlisted a small design shop in North Carolina to create his team’s Wolfpack logo and uniforms from scratch. “There wasn’t any Hollywood ending where we had a 6-9 guy who ended up in the NBA,” Booth said. “But we had a really good group of kids that I really enjoyed coaching and everyone” — including Booth — “got better.” Today, Booth credits Andreas James, a former Division II All-American point guard, for ballooning his Nova Village program to over 40 teams.

Booth started scouting on the side for Jim Clibanoff’s independent service. This Philadelphia native had a knack for finding prospects and sent many international and NBA teams detailed reports as well as scouting information to Booth. It wasn’t long before Connelly, who had become Dell Demps’ right hand during his tenure in New Orleans, snatched Booth for the Pelicans’ front office as a pro personnel scout. It began as a simple trip to Canton for Charge G League and Cleveland for Cavs games. Then it was a steady climb up the NBA ladder. He moved on to the Timbewerwolves and became Minnesota’s director of player personnel. Connelly was elevated to team president by the Nuggets in 2017. This helped Karnisovas to remain onboard as general manager. Denver also brought Booth aboard as an assistant General Manager.

“He has already a level of discipline to be on 10 teams and experience dealing with multiple coaches, players, relationships. I think that experience is great,” Karnisovas told Yahoo Sports. “But at the same time, when you finish your career and scouting, you’re starting from zero. He worked his way up and he knows what it takes on every level.”

Those early days in Denver, Karnisovas would sometimes get to Lifetime Fitness at 7 a.m. because it was closer to home than the Nuggets’ facility for an early workout. Booth would often be already there, directing Carey to different areas on the floor.

Booth’s daughter, Carter, has blossomed into a strong middle blocker at the University of Minnesota.

There has been no roadmap for Booth’s teaching, other than uplifting his children as he did for those in Nova Village all those years ago. Booth’s career is not a Booth-shaped plank. He focuses instead on the fundamental principles of the game. Booth believes this has been the key to his shift to evaluating from playing.

“I’ve worked a lot with my son and people are like, ‘Oh, does he play like you?’ And I’m like, no. It’s way different. He’s more like Rashard Lewis than he’s like me,” Booth said. “So if anything, some of the players, especially better ones, they have a healthy ego about who they were as players. I was able to separate my views about basketball, how I thought about basketball, from my own personal playing experience.”