The Houston Rockets need a new head coach. Earlier this week, the team dumped Stephen Silas after a short tenure in Clutch City. As the team turns its focus to finding a new coach, several candidates have begun to emerge.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Rockets will target several coaches with interviews. That includes Adrian Griffin, Frank Vogel, Ime Udoka, James Borrego, and Kenny Atkinson,
Also, Charania reported that Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse “is expected to be a top target should he become available.”
Sources: The Rockets are scheduling head coaching interviews with Golden State's Kenny Atkinson, Toronto's Adrian Griffin, Ime Udoka, Frank Vogel and James Borrego. Raptors' Nick Nurse is expected to be a top target should he become available. https://t.co/ZVx6KvQkwY
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 11, 2023
Whoever takes the job with Houston will be the Rockets’ sixth coach since 2010. Rick Adelman, Kevin McHale, J.B. Bickerstaff, Mike D’Antoni and Silas have coached the team since then. Silas went a dismal 59-177 in his tenure with the team. But the roster was totally depleted and filled with rookies and talent that couldn’t quite get up to snuff.
Nurse is a potentially interesting target. The former NBA Champion coach has gone 227-163 with a 25-16 record in the NBA Playoffs. He is pretty easily the biggest name on this list. But one has to wonder if he’d be willing to make that jump with the situation Houston is in.
The Rockets will be a fascinating job to watch as the team enters the NBA Draft Lottery again.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022