New Orleans Pelicans assistant Chris Finch is also part of Houston’s search to replace head coach Mike D’Antoni, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic. It’s not yet clear whether he’s among the group to have already interviewed.
Per Iko, the candidates on Houston’s radar are Finch; recent Los Angeles Clippers assistants Tyronn Lue and Sam Cassell; Minnesota assistant David Vanterpool; Dallas assistant Stephen Silas; Denver assistant Wes Unseld Jr.; former Brooklyn head coach Kenny Atkinson; former Rockets head coach Jeff Van Gundy; and current assistant John Lucas.
There is no clear timetable for a hire, and Iko notes that other names could potentially join the search, as well. Completed interviews, as of Thursday morning, included Atkinson, Unseld, and Silas.
#Rockets offseason notebook, Vol. 1: Inside the hiring process for new head coach
A lot of insight from @KellyIkoNBA https://t.co/Yzb9oCIY0E
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) October 8, 2020
Now 50 years old, Finch previously worked with GM Daryl Morey and the Rockets organization for seven seasons — from 2009 through 2016.
In 2009-10 and 2010-11, Finch was head coach of Houston’s G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Those teams effectively served as a testing ground for many of Morey’s beloved analytic principles, and Finch guided the Vipers to their first championship in 2010.
Then, after Kevin McHale was hired as head coach in 2011, Finch was brought to the Rockets as an assistant, and he remained in that role until the start of the Mike D’Antoni era in 2016. That period included James Harden‘s first four seasons in Houston. Since then, Finch has served as a top assistant with the Denver Nuggets and New Orleans Pelicans. At the moment, he’s also believed to be a head coaching option for Indiana.
I wrote about Chris Finch, an offensive guru with ties to inverted plays ran by Denver, when Jokic became the playmaking fulcrum, as well as the double-big Pelicans
For a team with Sabonis as the hub, on the merits of role reversals & continuous spacing. https://t.co/mUvWkUNGz9
— Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) October 6, 2020
In New Orleans, Finch worked for Alvin Gentry — who was previously a top assistant to D’Antoni and is known for utilizing similar principles. That could make for a good fit with the Rockets, who are already accustomed to that style of offense and have a roster well suited for it. During his one season in Denver, Finch earned praise for helping develop big man Nikola Jokic as the playmaking focal point of the Nuggets’ offense.
Stylistically, Finch is known best for his “read and react,” motion-based offenses. His coaching background profiles similarly to Toronto head coach Nick Nurse, who happens to be a close friend of Finch and someone to whom he has often been compared. Both men began their coaching careers in the late 1990s in the British Basketball League.
For decades, Raps assistant Nick Nurse and Pelicans assistant Chris Finch have circled each other. It continues: https://t.co/yQORX5zhBF
— (((Eric Koreen))) (@ekoreen) November 16, 2017
Nurse took over the Vipers job in 2011 after Finch was promoted to the Rockets. Then, after earning an assistant position with the Raptors in 2013 and staying in that role for five seasons, he became the head coach in 2018-19 and promptly led the team to its first NBA championship.
Should Finch land the job in Houston, that’s the template that Morey could be hoping to replicate with the Rockets in the 2020-21 season.
[lawrence-related id=39060,38213]
For @TheAthleticNBA
Over the new few weeks, we’ll be looking at the pool of available candidates for the Rockets head coaching position. Who are they looking at? Who should they be looking at?
First up, Chris Finch and Kenny Atkinson. https://t.co/1D3DLJNNMK
— Kelly Iko (@KellyIkoNBA) September 18, 2020