Did Houston Pick The Right Head Coach?
The Rockets took a long time to select their next head coach, and they missed out on some of the top-tier guys such as the Van Gundy brothers or Tyronn Lue. They selected long-time assistant Stephen Silas, certainly not a horrible pick, but a puzzling one at the very least. So, did the Rockets select the right head coach?
Stephen Silas has a long history in the NBA. His father, Paul Silas was also heavily involved with the NBA. Paul was selected 10th overall in the 1964 NBA Draft by the St. Louis Hawks (now Atlanta). Silas won 3 championships with the Celtics and Supersonics. Silas was also a 2x All-Star and a 5x All-Defensive Team member. So, he was pretty established.
And Paul wasn’t finished with just his playing career. He coached the San Diego Clippers from 1980-1983, and then became a long-time assistant. From 1988-1999, he was an assistant for the New Jersey Nets, Knicks, Suns, and Hornets. He was a head coach in the 2000s for the for the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets, Cavaliers and Bobcats. So Paul has been around the block to say the least.
And his son was no different as he was a scout/assistant for multiple teams over the past two decades. He was an assistant from 2018-2020, helping coach young super-star Luka Doncic.
So nobody is taking away from Stephen Silas’s resume. But the question is, is he ready for the job?
Silas has never been a head coach, and there is a big different between an assistant and a head coach. And while Silas has coached some good players like Luka Doncic, he now has to deal with James Harden and Russell Westbrook and a very flawed Rockets roster.
The Rockets will still be using their small ball lineup, but they don’t have the best weapons to do so. Silas will have to use James Harden off-ball more, and find a way to use Russell Westbrook off the perimeter. I suggest using Westbrook like a big guy and let him flash to the middle, instead of him being relied upon to make shots, which we know that he isn’t capable of.
But Silas isn’t set up for success in this job. The Rockets are a team expecting a high playoff seed, and they have two All-Stars and one of the best offensive players of all-time in James Harden. He will have to make do with this flawed roster and make small-ball a lot better than what it was in the bubble. So I think that Silas can be successful and this hire was a quiet steal. He is well-respected by everybody, and is a great developmental coach. But I think that time will tell if the Rockets selected the right coach or not.
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