The Houston Rockets are in the middle of a comprehensive search for their next head coach to replace Mike D’Antoni, and one of the key criteria could be compatibility with top assistant candidates.
Here’s what ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski told the network’s “Keyshawn, Jay and Zubin” radio program on Wednesday:
Houston, I think you’re going to see more of a veteran coach there for that group.
I think they’ll interview a lot of people. Ty Lue and Sam Cassell with the Clippers are a couple, but a bunch more. They like interviewing a lot of people with the Rockets, traditionally, when they have an opening — and trying a lot of combinations of head coach and top assistant. They try to find people that complement each other.
For the first three seasons of D’Antoni’s four-year tenure from 2016 through 2020, he worked closely with assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik — who was very well regarded for his defensive background. Bzdelik brought significant experience to the role as a former head coach, and the D’Antoni-Bzdelik combination helped lift the Rockets from 41-41 (prior to their arrival) to 55-27 in the 2016-17 season and 65-17 in 2017-18.
From Wojnarowski’s reporting, it seems that GM Daryl Morey could be using a similar template as he leads this search four years later.
So while Lue and Cassell (and likely many more) will be evaluated on their own merits, the final decision could also be influenced by how each candidate would seemingly fit within the context of a broader staff. Unlike some teams, it’s Morey — rather than the head coach — that has had the final say on Houston’s assistant coaches over the years.
Should that continue, it’s possible that some assistants from the 2019-20 season (Elston Turner, Brett Gunning, Matt Brase, John Lucas, and Dan Hartfield) could be retained. If so, how their skillsets might mesh with various head coaching candidates may be considered.
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Sources: There is mutual interest between the Rockets and Clippers assistant coach Sam Cassell. Cassell started his playing career with the two-time champion “Clutch City” Rockets.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) September 13, 2020