Randy Wittman deserves credit for changing the Washington Wizards‘ culture. Wittman’s serious attitude and commitment to the team has helped the Wizards become a top team in the Eastern Conference.

While Wittman has certainly played a key part in Washington’s rebuild, the rest of the coaching staff has been solid as well. Don Newman, who coached under Gregg Popovich for nearly a decade before joining Wittman’s staff in 2012, also deserves credit for shaping the team.

Coaches and players who’ve learned under Popovich have become successful head coaches — Mike Brown, Mike Budenholzer, Steve Kerr, Alvin Gentry, Monty Williams and Brett Brown come to mind.

Surprisingly, Don Newman has never really gotten a look.

As a source indicated months ago, Newman might’ve expected to eventually take over for Randy Wittman in 2012. Of course, that never happened. Despite numerous slumps throughout the course of his coaching career in the nation’s capital, the front office has decided to keep Wittman.

Newman, though, was recently interviewed for the Denver Nuggets’ head coaching job, according to a source. Tim Connelly, who became the team’s general manager after Masai Ujiri left to Toronto in 2013, worked in Washington’s front office for a number of years.

Connelly’s familiarity with Don Newman obviously played a factor in his decision to interview him for the job. Still, a source I spoke to indicated that Don Newman is a dark horse for the position.

The Nuggets have also interviewed Mike Malone and Mike D’Antoni for the job. After they fired George Karl, the team’s hiring of Brian Shaw turned out to be a disaster. Now, the Nuggets are looking to play up-and-down basketball — which is a style that Shaw wasn’t accustomed to.

Denver’s interim coach, Melvin Hunt, is reportedly a frontrunner for the job.

Unless he wowed the Nuggets’ front office, which is certainly a possibility, I wouldn’t expect the Wizards to lose Don Newman. However, if he does end up getting the job or leaving like Sam Cassell did last off-season, Don Zierden would likely take his spot on the bench.

Don Newman is a great coach and deserves a chance. He helped change Washington’s defense by altering the terminology and installing defensive sets. More importantly, though, the players (Nene, in particular) respect him and enjoy playing for him.

Since the Nuggets want to play fast basketball again, I’d be surprised if Don Newman is hired. Regardless, I’m glad he’s finally getting some consideration for head coaching jobs.