Who Should Be Filling The 4 Coaching Vacancies?
Over the past few months, a lot of coaches have been fired. 9 teams lost their coaches this season, and while most of them have found replacements, 4 teams haven’t found a new coach. Those teams being the Thunder, Pelicans, Pacers, and Rockets. Today I will be predicting who will be filling those coaching vacancies.
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers have found success as a franchise over the past few seasons, but they always get unlucky. But injuries to Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo over the past few seasons have derailed promising playoffs runs. And after getting swept for the 3rd time in 4 seasons, Nate McMillan was fired. So who will be filling his spot?
The Pacers have a few options. Former Nets Head Coach Kenny Atkinson, former Orlando Magic and Detroit Pistons Head Coach Stan Van Gundy, and former Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni.
I think that the Pacers should go after Kenny Atkinson. Atkinson is a great players coach and is great at building a culture. He lead an overachieving Nets team to the playoffs in 2019, because he got his players to buy in. Atkinson was wrongly fired in 2020, but I think that he would be the right choice for the Pacers.
Indiana Pacers Next Coach: Kenny Atkinson
New Orleans Pelicans
The Pelicans are in an interesting place. They have lots of talent with guys like Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and Lonzo Ball. But last season with Alvin Gentry they were great at times, and horrible at times. Zion can’t seem to stay in shape and this team doesn’t have a true leader. But I think that a good coaching hire can fix a lot with this team.
Stan Van Gundy has been one of the names tossed around, and I wouldn’t be opposed to it. Van Gundy is a solid coach who has a lot of experience, taking the 2009 Magic to the Finals. Van Gundy is a guy who can teach the young Pelicans a lot while also disciplining them and teaching them to play the right way.
The Pelicans might be one of the teams in the 2020-21 season that take a massive jump, and I think that getting Stan Van Gundy would be a step in the right direction post-AD.
New Orleans Pelicans Next Coach: Stan Van Gundy
Houston Rockets
The Rockets have been one of the top tier teams in the Western Conference for the past few years, but they haven’t reached their goal of winning a title. The Warriors always seem to get in the way, from the heartbreaking loss in 2018 to coming up short in 2019. With their new duo of Harden and Westbrook along with small ball, the Rockets were poised for great things. But they barely squeaked by the Thunder and then got destroyed by the Lakers. Mike D’Antoni left and GM Daryl Morey did the same. So the Rockets need some identity.
They need a coach with experience in the playoffs and somebody that can create a real offense, not just stand around and watch Russ and James isolate. Jeff Van Gundy is a name that has been around, and you have other guys like Nate McMillan and Stan Van Gundy. But I think that Jeff Van Gundy wouldn’t be a bad choice.
Van Gundy is very knowledge about the game and has coached for a long time in the NBA. Jeff coached the Rockets for 4 years and he was coaching the Knicks prior. Van Gundy has a lot of playoff experience and I think that he wouldn’t be terrible. The Rockets are in win-now mode and are going to be sticking with small-ball, so I think that they need somebody like Van Gundy who can push them, something that they lacked with D’Antoni.
Houston Rockets Next Coach: Jeff Van Gundy
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder fired Billy Donovan after losing in the first round and it seems like they are rebuilding. Danilo Gallinari doesn’t seem interested in signing back with the team, and Chris Paul may get traded this season. And with most of the big gun coaches gone already, the Thunder might have to settle for somebody with little to no experience.
Some names are Maurice Cheeks, who has been coaching for 24 years, with 9 being a head coach. Cheeks has been an assistant for the past few years with OKC. David Fizdale has been a long-time assistant and he hasn’t gotten fair chances as a head coach with the Knicks and Grizzlies. Adrian Griffin is an experienced assistant, and has been with a top-3 coach in Nick Nurse for the past couple of years.
But I think that the Thunder should go with Adrian Griffin. Griffin is unproven and he coached one game with the Raptors, a game they won. Griffin has a lot of experience as an assistant and I think that he would be a good coach for a likely rebuilding team. But there is no clear favorite so far in the race for this job, so this one will likely be the hardest to predict. And with no real big name head coaches available, this coaching hire will likely surprise a lot of people.
Oklahoma City Thunder Next Coach: Adrian Griffin
What Are Your Coaching Predictions? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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