NBA Coaching Rumors: Top Coaching Candidates for Lakers, Rockets and Others
As of right now, there are four NBA teams without a head coach (and plenty more sure to be looking), the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers and Golden State Warriors all have vacant head coaching seats that they would like to fill as soon as possible.
Los Angeles is going to be trying to find a way to keep their status as a title contender going for as long as possible after Phil Jackson coached the team to five titles since 1999.
Houston is seemingly see-sawing between potential playoff team and potential rebuilding candidate, so a head coach will be integral to their future at this point.
Golden State just needs to find a guy that can turn their team into a team that actually knows what the word defense means.
There are some high caliber names being thrown around, and there are some guys out there who are looking to step up from being assistant coaches for their career.
So I've put together a list of the most serious and most interesting names on each team's coaching search list for your reading pleasure.
Brian Shaw
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About two weeks ago, Brian Shaw looked to be a shoe-in as the next head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Now, it looks as if he may be the next head coach for the Golden State Warriors, as the Lakers are more interested in other candidates at the moment.
Shaw was a shooting guard for his 15-year career, including four years with the Lakers where he won three titles with the team.
He is a defensive-minded coach, with a good knowledge of the triangle offense that the Lakers run, so if they pass on hiring Shaw, it could be a sign that they may be moving away from the triangle offense.
Rick Adelman
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Rick Adelman has a great track record when it comes to coaching, as he is 165 games over .500, has coached one team to the Western Conference Title and another team to the best record in the regular season.
Adelman has coached Portland, Golden State, Sacramento and Houston in the past 22 years, running up a 945-616 record, and now it seems the Lakers are interested in his services.
Los Angeles contacted Adelman two days ago, presumably inquiring about whether or not he would want to interview for their vacant position.
Adelman is a players coach, who conforms the way he coaches to his players strengths, so it's hard to say whether he is a defensive-minded or offensive-minded coach, because he could be both.
Mike Brown
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Mike Brown went from winning a Coach of the Year Award back in 2009, became the goat of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2010, then he went to coaching his son's middle school football team, to becoming an NBA analyst for ESPN and finally turning into a viable coaching candidate.
Everyone got on Mike Brown after the 2010 NBA Playoffs for his inability to change his gameplan from game to game, but when you look at the team the Cavs had on the court, you have to wonder how much fiddling he could have done with that line-up.
Brown may very well be one of the best defensive minds out there this season, so he would be a good candidate for a team looking to beef up their defense, or to maintain it while their offense thrives.
Reports say that the Lakers are looking at Mike Brown as a possible replacement for Phil Jackson, so even if he doesn't get the job teams will be looking at Brown a few more times after the Lakers deem that he is a legit coaching candidate.
Mike Dunleavy
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The last time the Lakers had to replace a historically good head coach (not counting Phil Jackson's first retirement), they replaced Pat Riley with Mike Dunleavy in 1990. They went on to win the West in that season, followed by a respectable 43-39 record the following season before the two parted ways.
Dunleavy hasn't been back to the Finals since, but he has coached two 50-win teams and nearly turned the Clippers into a 50-win team, which has to be worth something.
He got a lot of flack near the end of his tenure with the Clippers, as he was a terrible GM for the other LA team, but as a coach he wasn't bad.
I still think that he comes with a scarlet letter on his suit, so the Lakers probably won't end up picking him up, but this could get him some looks from other teams.
Chuck Person
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Another Lakers assistant who is looking to jump into a head coaching role next season is Chuck Person. His job on the Lakers staff last season may give him an interview for the Lakers job, but it doesn't seem to be one he is likely to land.
Person is in line to interview with the Golden State Warriors and is a serious candidate for their open position.
Person's 14 years in the NBA and work with the Sacramento Kings and Lakers since retiring in 2000 is enough to get him some looks at some open jobs, and he is quickly becoming a hot name as a guy to give a shot to.
Dwane Casey
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Dwane Casey is near the top of the list for three teams at this point in the coaching search process, already having interviewed with the Golden State Warriors and garnering looks from Houston and Indiana.
It will be Casey's second head coaching job in the states (he was a head coach in Japan for five years), having first been at the helm of the Minnesota Timberwolves for a season-and-a-half.
He has some experience, but he jumped into a T-Wolves job that was hopeless for any head coach at the time, so he may get a shot with one of these three teams.
Kevin McHale
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In his two years as a head coach in the past, Kevin McHale went just 20-55 with the Minnesota Timberwolves in two separate stints.
He has worked in the front office for the T-Wolves and most recently worked for TNT as an analyst, much to the chagrin of anyone who has listened to him.
McHale is now getting a second interview from the Houston Rockets and seems to be quite high on their list, and he has said recently that he has, "the coaching bug."
It has been said that McHale is the Rockets No. 1 choice right now, but he is also getting calls from the Warriors as they intensify their search.
Sam Cassell
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One of the fringe candidates for the Houston Rockets head coaching job, Sam Cassell was a part of both Rockets championship teams in the mid-'90s.
Cassell has worked with the Washington Wizards for the past two years as an assistant and has taken to guiding John Wall into the NBA over the past season.
He is definitely a guy that should get a look at a head coaching job down the line, as he was always one of the smartest players on the floor when he played, but he may need more time buried in the coaching depth chart before he gets to be a head coach.
Lawrence Frank
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Lawrence Frank is another guy the Rockets are taking a look at, as they are the most involved in their head coaching search at the moment, and he may actually have a shot at the gig.
He joins Kevin McHale and Dwane Casey as the three guys that seem to be the finalists for the Rockets job.
Frank took the second version of the 2000-era Nets (Vince and Kidd at the tail end of his greatness) to three playoffs, getting to the second round twice but was fired in 2009 after starting the season a horrific 0-16.
Frank Vogel
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Frank Vogel was the interim head coach for the Indiana Pacers this past season, and for all intents and purposes, he did a good job.
Vogel led them into the playoffs after bringing the team to a 20-18 record down the stretch after Jim O'Brien went 17-27 with the team in the first half of the year.
Chances are right now that the Pacers are going through the process of searching for a coach with the hope that someone great will fall into their lap but don't fully expect that to happen and will turn back to Vogel rather than taking a gamble on some young hotshot on the outside.
Jeff Van Gundy
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The final name that has been thrown around in recent weeks is the guy that only opens his mouth to either say something outlandishly stupid or thoroughly insightful.
Jeff Van Gundy has been backed by Bill Plaschke of the LA Times, linking him to their coaching search, and has been reportedly contacted by the Warriors, with whom he turned down an interview.
Van Gundy took the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals in 1999 without Patrick Ewing, but never could get out of the first round with the Houston Rockets.
He has a pretty good record as a head coach (430-318) and is a high profile guy that could get by in LA, but at this point, it seems like his candidacy is a long shot at best.
