In 2020, with a roster led by former MVPs James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the Houston Rockets boasted the NBA’s longest active streak of consecutive playoff appearances.
But there were clouds on the horizon for the Rockets and general manager Rafael Stone, who had just taken over that job.
Harden and Westbrook each wanted out after another playoff run ended without a title. Longtime general manager Daryl Morey left. The team was largely devoid of draft capital due to the prior offseason’s trade to acquire Westbrook from Oklahoma City. The veteran group of players meant salary cap room was nowhere to be found.
Thus, coaches with previous head coaching experience who were looking for lead jobs in 2020 — Ty Lue and Doc Rivers — picked the Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively, as opposed to the Houston job that opened after Mike D’Antoni’s departure.
The Rockets hired Stephen Silas, a first-time head coach, and quickly pivoted to a youth-driven rebuild. Over the next three seasons, Houston easily had the NBA’s worst combined record (59-177).
Today, with Silas out and Houston transitioning to the next phase of its rebuild, the Rockets are landing interviews with successful NBA head coaches such as Frank Vogel, Ime Udoka and Kenny Atkinson. Nick Nurse is a potential candidate, as well.
Despite all the losing, is Houston’s job more attractive in 2023 than it was three years ago? According to Jonathan Feigen, longtime Houston Chronicle beat writer, that looks to be the case. He writes:
There is a better vibe than three years ago, when the coaching search came amid Daryl Morey’s departure as general manager and with the potential for James Harden and Russell Westbrook to similarly move on.
The initial interest in the job compared to three seasons ago seems to indicate others see the potential Stone has described. The cap room to add veterans the Rockets so obviously needed this past season was described as especially important to several candidates.
“The Rockets have not had difficulty getting sit downs with the coaches they’ve targeted … three years after they had a much better team, but a much more difficult time earning the interest of some top candidates,” Feigen concludes in his article.
New #Rockets at Houston Chronicle — You can win for losing: Rockets coaching job has more upside than it did during last search https://t.co/rMrARSU7V6
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) April 19, 2023
Granted, interest in interviewing isn’t the same as one of the big names actually taking the job. Owner Tilman Fertitta will need to pay a large enough salary. Stone, who remains a relatively young and unproven general manager, will need to convince candidates he has the right plans for how to optimize that cap flexibility.
It also remains to be seen if the Rockets will have any further market competition. Right now, the only other coaching vacancy is Detroit, which is a smaller market with considerably less salary cap space to help shape the roster to a candidate’s liking.
Going forward, if a team elsewhere has a disappointing exit from the 2023 NBA playoffs, Houston might have competition for some of those big names. A top candidate may also opt to stay on the sidelines until a different job opens up, similarly to how veteran coach Quin Snyder didn’t take a job in the 2022 offseason but took over in Atlanta when that job opened during the 2022-23 season.
But in general, as young prospects like Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun continue to improve and veterans inevitably fill in the gaps, Houston’s job appears to have considerable upside in 2023. In 2020, despite superior on-court results from recent seasons, a sense of downside risk was far more evident.
Now, as the coaching search enters its second week and the Rockets move closer to a resolution, Stone is hoping that momentum leads to a positive conclusion with one of those top candidates.
