Here’s a look at the five best candidates to replace interim J.B. Bickerstaff for the Houston Rockets’ head coaching gig.
The Houston Rockets are a franchise that will see a major overhaul from top to bottom this summer. With Dwight Howard set to opt out, no head coach in place and quite a few key players coming off the books or hitting restricted free agency, it’s safe to say this Rockets team will look drastically different for the 2016-17 season.
James Harden remains the face (and facial hair) of the franchise, while young players like Clint Capela and K.J. McDaniels will still be around next year. But outside of that, there are a ton of question marks for Houston, with the primary one being: Who will be Clutch City’s next head coach?
According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, it won’t be interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who took over after former head coach Kevin McHale was fired 11 games into the season. Bickerstaff coached the team to a 37-34 record, but the Rockets never bought in on the defensive end and were ousted in the first round of the playoffs in five games as the eighth seed in the West.
Bickerstaff took his name out of the running, according to Woj, leaving the Rockets with a bevy of candidates to choose from. The most appealing names — Tom Thibodeau, Scott Brooks and Luke Walton — have already been taken off the market, but there are still a few quality options available for a Houston team that made it to the conference finals just last season.
Harden remains one of the league’s most gifted offensive players, but his defense plummeted this year after showing drastic improvement in 2014-15, and his status as a leader has also come into question. With the roster set to look very different next year, the Rockets need a coach who can reach the Beard, unify a new locker room and instill the kind of defense that helped the Rockets secure the No. 2 seed in the West just last year.
Coming off a season in which Houston was the NBA’s 20th ranked defense and eighth ranked offense, the new head coach of the Rockets faces quite a challenge. Here’s a look at the five best candidates for the job, including some honorable mentions whose names have been floating around.
Next: Honorable Mentions
Honorable Mentions
Kenny Smith — Look, I love Kenny Smith. But the report from ESPN’s Marc Stein that the Jet could be considered for the head coaching job should do little for Rockets fans. Enjoying him sitting around and trading barbs with Charles Barkley all day is one thing, but expecting him to command the respect of a locker room and be able to draw up plays is something else entirely.
Stephen Silas — According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Rockets are working to set up an interview with Charlotte Hornets assistant Stephen Silas for their head coaching job. Silas, the son of longtime NBA coach Paul Silas, has been an assistant or scout in the league for five different organizations in six various stints dating back to 1999.
Paid-their-dues assistants are too often overlooked; Patrick Ewing, Jay Larranaga, Stephen Silas, David Fizdale and others should get looks.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) April 17, 2016
Chris Finch — As reported by Woj, the Rockets have already interviewed Chris Finch, a Houston assistant who is a former professional basketball player from the British Basketball League. He became the Rio Grande Valley Vipers’ head coach in 2009 and they won the D-League championship in his first year. Finch has been a Rockets assistant coach since 2011.
Shaka Smart — Though Stein says the Rockets are focused on finding proven NBA candidates to fill their head coaching vacancy, Houston is reportedly intrigued by two college coaches: Texas’ Shaka Smart and Kansas’ Bill Self. Smart’s .726 winning percentage is impressive, as was his Final Four run with VCU in 2011. Smart commands the respect of his players, though doing so at the college level is obviously a different challenge compared to NBA superstars and their million dollar egos.
Can't speak to the NBA aspirations of either one, but sources say two college coaches who intrigue the Rockets are Shaka Smart and Bill Self
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 5, 2016
Bill Self — With a 592-188 head coaching record, Self is one of college basketball’s undisputed all-time greats. He’s won a national championship, made it to two Final Fours and has captured 12 Big 12 regular season championships. Unfortunately, it’d take a lot of money to pry him from a cushy situation as the biggest fish in the pond with the Kansas Jayhawks, and that transition to the NBA level is not as easy as Brad Stevens has made it look.
Jeff Hornacek — Hornacek is the only name on this list with actual NBA head coaching experience, recently being ousted by the Phoenix Suns for problems that were largely not his fault. Hornacek finished second in Coach of the Year voting in 2013-14 for a 48-win Suns team, but he boasted with an underwhelming 101-112 record overall. For a team in need of a head coach who can unify a locker room, Hornacek’s track record isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
Next: No. 5
5. Mike D’Antoni
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, Mike D’Antoni was in Houston this week to interview for the Rockets job. If the front office wants to abandon ideas of improving the defense and decides to go all in on having an elite offense, D’Antoni would make some sense.
As the brains behind Steve Nash‘s Seven Seconds Or Less Phoenix Suns teams, Mike D is no stranger to success when he has a roster that fits his up-tempo system. James Harden is an elite (and underappreciated) maestro on the offensive end, so if D’Antoni’s Rockets are able to pair him with a solid pick-and-roll big and flank that duo with shooters, Houston’s ninth ranked offense could become unstoppable.
Unfortunately, that will require Daryl Morey to hit quite a few runs in free agency, especially with Dwight Howard likely on the way out. The roster is in need of major reconstruction, there are quite a few departing pieces to replace and we’ve seen what happens when D’Antoni teams (New York, Los Angeles) don’t have the requisite pieces for his system.
Next: No. 4
4. Sam Cassell
Along with Houston assistant Chris Finch, the Rockets interviewed Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Sam Cassell. Cassell, a former Rockets player who won two championships in Houston, is yet another familiar name with ties to the organization who’d not only be a feel-good move, but has some actual coaching experience as well.
Though he’s never been a professional head coach, he served as an assistant with the Washington Wizards from 2009-14 before joining the Clippers as an assistant. John Wall credited Cassell’s tutelage as playing a prominent role in his development, and Cassell spent the last seven years learning under great basketball minds like Flip Saunders and Doc Rivers.
He’s already secured an interview, he’s a former fan favorite and he could be one of those assistants ready to make the leap to head coach. This might be a dark horse option, but it’s worth mentioning.
Next: No. 3
3. Mark Jackson
Say what you want about Mark Jackson and the way he exited his head coaching gig with the Golden State Warriors — no really, go ahead and say what you want, because it’s probably fair game at this point — but the man did accomplish a few major goals there, posting a 98-66 record in his last two seasons for a franchise in desperate need of a culture change.
That’s exactly where the Houston Rockets are right now, even with a superstar in James Harden. This organization desperately needs a head coach who can institute a respectable defense, win over a locker room and unify the players with an “us against the world” kind of mentality.
MJax may not be the long-term solution, but coming off a season in which the Rockets were arguably one of the most depressing playoff teams of all time, beggars can’t be choosers.
The Rockets already have a top-10 offense in place by virtue of Harden and Daryl Morey’s “three-pointer or layup” philosophy. Defense is where Houston desperately needs to improve, and though Jackson often clashed with management in Golden State, getting the Rockets’ star player to buy in on the defensive end is what this franchise needs right now.
Next: No. 2
2. Jeff Van Gundy
Jeff Van Gundy is a former Rockets and New York Knicks head coach whose name was at the top of this list until Thursday. Though he hasn’t coached since the 2006-07 season, trading his clipboard for a headset as an NBA commentator ever since, JVG has a sterling track record and ties to the Rockets organization.
In 11 NBA seasons as a head coach, Van Gundy’s teams never posted a losing record. His teams made the playoffs in all but one season, his 1998-99 Knicks went to the NBA Finals before being toppled by the San Antonio Spurs, and his .575 win percentage ranks 25th all-time among coaches who have coached in at least 400 games.
Players knew Bickerstaff was an interim -- and that Rockets will go big-game hunting on market. Houston's search starts with Jeff Van Gundy.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 28, 2016
Van Gundy has long been mentioned as Houston’s prime target, and as a regular attendee at the MIT Sports Sloan Analytics Conference, it’s safe to say he’s well aware of the current trends of the game and how it’s changed since he last coached.
We’ve already seen broadcasters like Mark Jackson and Steve Kerr find success as NBA head coaches without any experience coming from the booth, so it’s safe to say a guy who’s done it before like JVG would have plenty to bring to the table in Houston. For a team that needs a sense of unity and an improved defense, Van Gundy would instill some toughness and togetherness.
Next: No. 1
1. Frank Vogel
Before Larry Bird announced that the Indiana Pacers would be parting ways with head coach Frank Vogel Thursday morning, Jeff Van Gundy would’ve been the top candidate in this category. But with a defensive mastermind and bonafide top-10 head coach like Vogel available, the Rockets should’ve picked up the phone the moment those words left Bird’s lips.
For some reason, the Pacers craved a new voice in Indiana, despite the fact that their real problems were with the roster itself. The Pacers tried to embrace small-ball overnight, signing a bunch of shooters who couldn’t actually shoot. Despite lacking the right personnel, Vogel still fielded the league’s third ranked defense this season — no small feat for a team that was starting Monta Ellis and lost David West and Roy Hibbert over the summer.
Even better, Vogel is no stranger to the organization, having interviewed for the head coaching gig back in 2011. According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Vogel could launch to the top of Houston’s list now that he’s available.
Worth repeating: Rockets interviewed Vogel for 7 hrs in 11. He had dinner w/ Leslie Alexander the night before. Worked with Morey in Boston.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) May 5, 2016
Vogel wasn’t able to prove himself over Kevin McHale five years ago, but he certainly has a much stronger resume to work with now.
In his six seasons at the helm of the Pacers, Vogel’s teams posted a 250-181 record for a .580 win percentage that ranks 21st all-time among coaches who have coached in at least 400 games. The Pacers never made it to the NBA Finals, but they took two all-time great Miami Heat teams to the brink in back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals series.
The only year Indiana missed the playoffs under Vogel was the season Paul George only played six games coming off that horrific leg injury, and his teams were in the top 10 in defensive rating every single year — including leading the league in 2012-13 and 2013-14 — with the exception of his first season, when the Pacers ranked 12th.
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The Rockets desperately need some accountability on the defensive end, and Vogel would provide it. There’s no guarantee his hands on and less laid back approach would mesh well with one of the NBA’s laziest star defenders, but Vogel is a genuinely positive person with a proven track record and the Rockets would do well to haul him in.