Another architect of the Denver Nuggets’ championship infrastructure has resurfaced in a prominent NBA front office.
The Philadelphia 76ers hired former Nuggets assistant general manager Tommy Balcetis as their head of basketball intelligence, analytics and innovation, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto reported Sunday.
The move gives Balcetis an influential position in Philadelphia’s reorganized basketball operation. For Denver, it offers another reminder of the institutional knowledge that departed during the franchise’s sweeping front-office transition in 2025.
Balcetis spent 12 years with the Nuggets, arriving in 2013 as the organization began constructing the foundation that eventually produced the 2023 NBA championship. He advanced from analytics manager to assistant general manager, working across scouting, salary-cap strategy and trade construction.
He was there before Nikola Jokić became an MVP, before Jamal Murray developed into a playoff star and before Denver found the final pieces of its title roster.
Balcetis Helped Build Denver’s Analytics Department
Balcetis did not merely join an established analytics department in Denver. He helped build one.
A Harvard graduate who previously worked for Fidelity Investments and the NBA’s London office, Balcetis met former Nuggets executive Tim Connelly at a Basketball Without Borders event in Moscow. Connelly hired him after taking control of Denver’s basketball operations in 2013.
His work eventually reached well beyond spreadsheets. Before the Nuggets acquired Aaron Gordon from the Orlando Magic in 2021, Balcetis and other staff members produced an analysis identifying Gordon as one of the NBA’s most effective defenders against elite offensive players, according to Harvard Magazine.
Two years later, Gordon was defending LeBron James during Denver’s Western Conference finals sweep and serving as an indispensable part of the franchise’s first championship team.
Balcetis was promoted to assistant general manager in 2020. His contract was not renewed in June 2025, shortly after the Nuggets fired general manager Calvin Booth and coach Michael Malone. Denver ultimately elevated Ben Tenzer and brought back Jonathan Wallace to lead its rebuilt front office.
Balcetis returned to Lithuania later that year and became head of innovations for EuroLeague club Žalgiris Kaunas. His work there included developing a player-analysis tool designed to organize and interpret basketball data.
Nuggets Have Established New Leadership
Denver has since committed to a two-executive model. Tenzer oversees basketball operations, while Wallace leads player personnel, with both reporting to team president Josh Kroenke. Layne Vashro serves as vice president of analytics and strategy.
That structure means Balcetis’ departure is not a vacancy Denver still must fill. The Nuggets made their decision more than a year ago and moved forward with a different leadership group.
Still, Philadelphia’s decision says something about how Balcetis is viewed around the league. The 76ers are not simply hiring a data specialist. They are adding an executive who spent more than a decade helping turn information into roster decisions for a championship organization.
Denver’s front office has entered a new chapter. One of the people who helped write the previous one now has a significant role in Philadelphia.
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