The Houston Rockets made the expected yet impactful move last month to move on from Mike D’Antoni after four seasons that mostly ended in disappointment. Houston has the ceiling of a title team with perennial MVP candidate James Harden and a system on both ends that has been proven effective at the highest level, but to break through into the Finals and potentially come away with a ring, the Rockets will need to find a way to get more out of Harden in the playoffs and generally better in big moments.
This team has all the talent they need to win a championship, so it’s one case in which it’s fair to wonder whether coaching may truly have been one of the main problems. With that in mind, the Rockets’ coaching search is one of the most interesting in the league this offseason and outside of Philadelphia and Los Angeles, may have the most to impact on the 2021 championship odds. This does not even factor in the issues facing the team, namely that they are built around two stars on the wrong side of 30, went all-in on the small-ball concept, and have next to no draft capital for the next few years due to the Russell Westbrook trade.
Here’s who the Rockets have looked at so far, and why each candidate could make sense:
Stephen Silas
After several years of hype when he helped build a playoff team around Kemba Walker in Charlotte as part of Steve Clifford’s staff, Silas is once again a man of intrigue in the NBA as the offensive coordinator for the Mavericks, which finished the regular season as the best offense in the history of the league.
The fit here would be understandable now that Houston has reportedly received permission to interview Silas. No matter who general manager Daryl Morey hires, Houston is not going to suddenly shy away from its threes-and-layups offense. And that’s exactly what Silas coached up in Dallas, with Luka Doncic running the show in the Harden role. This pairing has the makings of a successful one.
Wes Unseld Jr.
Like Silas, it’s believed Houston has simply received permission to talk with Unseld, not that they have done so yet. Take it directly from Mike Malone, who heads up the Denver staff where Unseld has made his mark since 2015.
The Nuggets’ head coach credited Unseld almost entirely for concocting the defensive game plan that limited the Clippers in the second round and helped Denver upset them. For a Houston team whose defense has come and gone for large parts of the past four years under D’Antoni, finding a smart defensive mind to coach the team may not be a bad idea.
Tyronn Lue
The case for Lue is simple. An NBA champion, Lue proved in the playoffs over several years that he could work with superstar players to adjust over the course of the postseason or within single games in order to put those stars in a position to succeed. He also received credit for building a very, very good offense in Cleveland.
It’s hard to know whether Harden or Westbrook have the sort of relationship that LeBron James and Kyrie Irving did with Lue, but even if that’s unlikely, Lue is a more than proven commodity and would likely be a solid coach for the team. Lue is scheduled to meet with Houston’s brain trust next week, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times.
David Vanterpool
It’s hard to imagine Vanterpool misses out on head coaching gigs for much longer. After spending several years on the Portland staff under Terry Stotts, the EuroLeague veteran Vanterpool has interviewed for different jobs around the league for years now, ultimately landing a promotion to associate head coach in Minnesota alongside Ryan Saunders. As one of the most experienced top assistants in the league and someone who coached a great Trail Blazer team for many years, Vanterpool is exceedingly qualified.
But it’s important to mention with someone like Vanterpool that what Harden wants is likely going to supersede most other factors. After underperforming with J.B. Bickerstaff, another up-and-coming young assistant, it may not make sense that someone like Vanterpool (or any of the other assistants here who have never been a head coach) who lacks shiny bona fides would dazzle Harden in the same way others will. Vanterpool has reportedly not yet officially interviewed.
Kenny Atkinson
Somehow, Atkinson is still not a head coach. Dismissed by Brooklyn just days before the NBA shutdown, Atkinson, whom the NBA world seems to hold in high regard, is going through the interview rollercoaster but has not landed a job yet.
Known mostly for his player development gifts after working under Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta for several years, Atkinson was let go by the Nets before he had the chance to make magic with the superstars on that roster in the postseason. Houston’s goal is a title, and Atkinson just doesn’t yet have the reputation of leading great playoff teams. Atkinson interviewed this week.
John Lucas II
Stein reports at the New York Times that Lucas will interview “soon” for the Rockets top job after working there as an assistant under D’Antoni since 2016. There’s a chance the familiarity here gives Lucas an advantage. Lucas knows this wonky Rockets system better than anyone else who will interview, and he came in as a player development coach, meaning young players like Danuel House Jr., Austin Rivers, and Ben McLemore will know his style and likely have reaped the benefits of his coaching.
At the same time, it’s hard to know without being in Houston what Lucas’ relationship is like with Harden and Westbrook, or the Rockets’ front office. Continuity can be underestimated in some cases, but it also feels like Houston needs some big changes that Lucas may not provide.
Jeff Van Gundy
The Rockets have maintained interest in Van Gundy since he left the organization, when Morey took over as GM and installed his own head coach. Stein reported Van Gundy will interview once he is done calling the NBA Finals for ABC.
If the goal is to bring in a reputable leader and basketball mind who could bring a needed dose of accountability and seriousness to the franchise, Van Gundy is an understandable target. It’s just hard to know what his style would be in 2020, as the game has changed considerably since he last coached in the NBA, but he taken some time to get the rust off in recent years through his work with USA Basketball.
Sam Cassell
The man for whom Doc Rivers personally lobbied in the Bubble is a hot commodity this year, it seems. Cassell has been around Rivers for many years, first in the final years of his playing career in Boston and now as an assistant in Los Angeles. Now it may be Cassell’s time to get a look as a head coach.
Few NBA role players did more winning than Cassell, who earned championships with everyone from Hakeem Olajuwon to Paul Pierce. That could hold weight with Harden and Westbrook, as could Cassell’s positive attitude and high basketball IQ as a former point guard. Houston interviewed Cassell back in 2016 before they hired D’Antoni and have “mutual interest” this time around, according to longtime Rockets reporter Tim McMahon of ESPN.