Mike D'Antoni Won't Return to Rockets as HC, Reportedly Linked to 76ers, Pacers

Mike D'Antoni informed the Houston Rockets on Sunday he will not be returning to the team next season.  

D'Antoni confirmed his exit in a statement, via ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, who also first reported the news of his exit in Houston.  

Wojnarowski reported D'Antoni plans to be a coaching free agent and explore other vacancies. The Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers are expected to be among the teams interested in interviewing the veteran coach. 

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported "there is certainly" interest in D'Antoni in Indiana, but that he's "not expected to be a serious consideration" in New Orleans for its vacancy on the bench.

As for the Rockets, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported Houston will "take a strong look" at former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach and current Los Angeles Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue.

D'Antoni, 69, has led the Rockets to a 173-73 record in four seasons. His contract expired after the Rockets' elimination by the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. 

The coach said after the game he was hoping to land a new contract in Houston:

"We've got a great organization, great city, great fans, team's great. I mean, everything's good here. We'll see what happens, but I couldn't ask for a better situation. I had four years. Hopefully it keeps going, but you just never know. But everything is good on this side, for sure.

"It was fun. It's still fun. You always hate to lose. It's always a little bittersweet, but I couldn't ask for better people to work with and better players to work with. A lot of things stand out, a lot of little things, but I had a great four years, for sure."

D'Antoni's run in Houston, much like his one in Phoenix, will be defined by falling just shy of championship glory. 

The Rockets fell to the Kevin Golden State Warriors in 2018 and 2019 but were their strongest rival during the Kevin Durant era. Houston's five playoff victories against the Warriors were as many as any other team had in the last three seasons combined until the 2019 NBA Finals.

That said, being a perpetual bridesmaid is not the goal for the Rockets. James Harden is 30 and his window is closing. Russell Westbrook's contract is looking increasingly like an albatross. Meanwhile, owner Tilman Fertitta has also set the goal at nothing short of a championship.

"We put a team together that should have gotten to the Western Conference finals," Fertitta told reporters in 2019. "You can't say 'I'm going to go win the championship.' Or, 'I'm going to go win the Western Conference or Eastern.' All you can do is put a team together to be one of the top four teams. Then … you need luck, from (avoiding) injuries to hitting a last-second shot. You want to always set yourself up to get to the conference finals.

"I've directed my people to get better next year—anything we can do, from ownership to conditioning and training, all the way to that level. If we can make our team better player-wise, we're going to make our team better. If we can make our team better coaching-wise, we'll make our team better."

The Rockets made sweeping changes on D'Antoni's staff last summer, letting go of a number of trusted assistants. Perhaps most shocking was the firing of assistant Jeff Bzdelik, a defensive guru the Rockets brought out of retirement to help fix their defense last season. 

It's possible that D'Antoni will look to bring back Bzdelik and others in his next stop. Meanwhile, the Rockets will head into their latest reconstruction.