Nuggets hire head coach

DENVER, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- The Denver Nuggets, who have not been to the playoffs since 1995, Wednesday hired Jeff Bzdelik to be their new head coach.

Bzdelik has served as a scout and assistant coach in the NBA since 1988 and most recently led the Nuggets summer league team to a 6-0 record in the Rocky Mountain Revue last month.

Denver endured its seventh straight losing campaign last season, going 27-55 under Dan Issel and interim Coach Mike Evans.

Issel accepted a buyout from the Nuggets and resigned as team president and coach in December after serving a team-imposed four-game suspension for directing an ethnic slur at a fan following a loss to Charlotte on Dec. 11. The Nuggets went 18-38 under Evans.

Dallas Mavericks assistants Del Harris and Donn Nelson and New Jersey Nets assistant Eddie Jordan were among those who interviewed and all withdrew their names from consideration for the job.

The 49-year-old Bzdelik inherits a young team expected to again miss the postseason in the competitive Western Conference. On the day of the draft, the Nuggets dealt star forward Antonio McDyess and the rights to No. 25 pick Frank Williams to the New York Knicks for the rights to Brazilian forward Nene Hilario, center Marcus Camby and guard Mark Jackson.

Hilario, 19, averaged 9.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in the summer league.

Before serving as a scout and assistant coach with Denver, Bzdelik was an assistant coach and director of scouting for the Miami Heat. He also was lead scout for the Knicks in 1994-95 after his first NBA job as Washington Bullets assistant coach from 1988-94. Bzdelik also coached Maryland-Baltimore County from 1986-88.