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Mark Warkentien joined the Nuggets in the summer of 2005 as Director of Player Personnel and was elevated to Vice President of Basketball Operations on Sept. 7, 2006. In May 2006, he was appointed to lead the Nuggets draft process and serve as the top negotiator on basketball matters.
The summer of 2006 was a busy and successful one for the Nuggets, who captured the Northwest Division title in ’05-06. The team signed Carmelo Anthony to a multi-year extension, re-signed its own restricted free agent Nene and acquired J.R. Smith and Joe Smith via trades.
Before making the move to Denver, Warkentien spent the previous 14 seasons in the NBA working in various capacities in the front office.
Warkentien spent the 2004-05 season with the Cleveland Cavaliers as Director of Player Personnel and served as interim General Manager. Prior to moving to Cleveland, he worked for 10 years with the Portland Trail Blazers. In ’03-04, he served as Director of Player Personnel after spending the previous five seasons as Assistant General Manager. He spent his first season in Portland as a scout followed by three seasons as the team’s Director of Scouting. He began his NBA career with the Seattle SuperSonics, aiding the team as a scout from 1991-94.
Prior to joining the Blazers, he worked for 11 years in basketball operations at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, where he teamed with current Nuggets assistant coach Tim Grgurich.
At UNLV, Warkentien served as an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator as well as assistant athletic director. He helped build UNLV’s team that went on to win the NCAA Championship in 1990.
He began his coaching career at Riverside City College and at Saddleback College before taking the reins of the women’s program at UC-Riverside. Warkentien then returned to his alma mater, Cal-State Fullerton, as an assistant coach for two seasons. He spent one season on the coaching staff at UC-Irvine before joining Jerry Tarkanian’s staff at UNLV.
Warkentien, 53, is a 1976 graduate of Cal-State Fullerton and a native of Huntington, Ind. He and his wife, Maureen, have two daughters, Kreigh and Aubrie. | 