Report: Tyronn Lue to Get 'Strong Look' from Rockets After Mike D'Antoni's Exit

Houston Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni will inform franchise leadership he will not return to the team next season, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, and a report from Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes suggests that Los Angeles Clippers assistant Tyronn Lue could be in line to take over. 

Tim MacMahon of ESPN also reported Sam Cassell, another Clippers assistant, is a target for the Rockets and that there's "mutual interest."

D'Antoni, who earned his second NBA Coach of the Year honor when he took over the Rockets in the 2016-17 season, turned down offers to extend his contract, which expired when Houston fell to the Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals. In four seasons under D'Antoni's watch, the Rockets had the fourth-most playoff wins in the league (28).

According to Wojnarowski, D'Antoni is among the candidates to replace Brett Brown in Philadelphia. 

Lue, who won a championship with the Lakers during his 11-year career, which included a stint with Houston in 2004, coached Cleveland to the 2015-16 title after taking over for David Blatt midseason. The 43-year-old Nebraska product has also been linked to the Brooklyn Nets' vacancy. 

As a head coach in Cleveland, Lue went 128-83 during the regular season and 41-20 in the playoffs, helping the team reach three consecutive NBA Finals. 

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James spoke highly of Lue when he was fired after an 0-6 start to the 2018-19 season: 

"He put us in position to win, he put us in position to succeed. And more importantly, he gave—all the onus was on the players. He gave us the responsibility to go out and do what we needed to do to win ballgames. And that led us to—while he was at the helm—three Eastern Conference Finals, three Finals, one championship."

Lue was a candidate for the Lakers coaching job in 2019 but couldn't reach an agreement, and the Lakers eventually hired Frank Vogel. The Rockets also sought out Lue that offseason as a potential assistant on D'Antoni's staff, but he was only interested in head coaching opportunities at the time.