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Five NBA coaches who already may be on hot seat
It’s September, which means we are mere weeks from the first rumor about an NBA coach getting fired. Teams are ruthless when it comes to coaching decisions in the modern NBA. Tyronn Lue was canned after six games in Cleveland last season. In 2017-18, Earl Watson only lasted three games with Phoenix, though he was actually let go during training camp -– Phoenix inexplicably gave him two weeks’ notice.
Recent success won’t save a coach either. Lue and David Blatt -- yes, Cleveland again -- were fired after going to the Finals. Lionel Hollins was canned after leading Memphis to the best season in franchise history, and Dwane Casey (Toronto) and George Karl (Denver) lost their jobs after winning Coach of the Year. One early losing streak, particularly for teams with title aspirations, can mean a coach doesn’t make it to Christmas. Based on a combination of contract status, preseason expectations, roster turnover and itchy fingers among management, here are five coaches who will start the season on the hot seat.
Mike D’Antoni, Houston Rockets
D’Antoni led the Rockets to 65 wins in his second season with the team, losing the conference finals in seven games. Last season, the team dropped to 53 wins, lost to the Warriors one round earlier and in one fewer game than the previous season. Oh yeah, James Harden and Chris Paul feuded. Now Paul is gone, Russell Westbrook is in town, and D’Antoni is in the final year of his deal. Extension talks for the coach having fallen apart multiple times in the offseason. Not only that, but GM Daryl Morey fired five of D’Antoni’s assistants over the summer, which generally doesn’t indicate a healthy working relationship. And you know Morey is having statisticians audit D’Antoni’s coaching decisions, just like Houston does for referees.
It’s not just owner Tilman Fertitta low-balling the coach, something he absolutely did by offering only $2.5 million guaranteed for an extra year. It’s a make-or-break year for D’Antoni and the Rockets. The team is capped out, with Harden, Westbrook, Clint Capela, and now Eric Gordon locked up for three more years, and has demonstrated a healthy aversion to paying luxury tax. Their future had better be now, because their playoff nemesis, the Warriors, is hobbled, and Houston traded a ton of future picks for Westbrook (and to lose Paul’s contract). The Rockets are still a great team and a title favorite, but anything short of the Finals is a disappointment.
Both coach and team have experience with early-season firings. The Rockets fired Kevin McHale after a 4-7 start in 2015-16, even though he had led the team to the conference finals six months earlier. D’Antoni took over as Lakers head coach when Mike Brown was fired five games into the season. If the Rockets start slowly, which is a distinct possibility as Harden and Westbrook figure how to share one ball between them and coordinate their pre-game outfits, Morey could pull the trigger on a coaching change early. The 10-day stretch from November 13-22 is brutal, with five games against playoff teams (Clippers twice, Pacers, Blazers and Nuggets). If the Rockets stumble, Morey will fire D'Antoni in seven seconds or less.
Frank Vogel, Los Angeles Lakers
How can Vogel feel confident about his job security when he’s coaching alongside his obvious replacement, Jason Kidd? He already felt like a consolation prize, after the team failed to come to terms with preferred coaches Monty Williams and Tyronn. Vogel was originally considered as a potential Lue assistant. Kidd interviewed for the head coaching job in April, played with LeBron James on Team USA for years, and was the Lakers' coach instrumental in bringing aboard Dwight Howard. Plus, Kidd can recruit his old pal Giannis as a free agent in two years! Vogel had some excellent years as head coach of the Pacers, but he’s coming off two terrible years in Orlando.
Coaching LeBron also hurts your job security. The Cavs fired Paul Silas near the end of LeBron’s second season, even though they were the fifth seed at the time. (They missed the playoffs.) Blatt was fired midway through his second year with LeBron, after one Finals run. In his first season in Miami, LeBron even wanted Erik Spoelstra fired.
Vogel’s specialty is defense, and that’s a part of basketball that LeBron has been less enthusiastic about during the regular season in recent years. Add an eclectic roster -– Howard and JaVale McGee manning the pivot, Connect Four expert Rajon Rondo starting, and backup Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who missed road games a year ago because he was under house arrest -– and Vogel has his work cut out. They should win too many games for Vogel to lose his job, but since he only signed a three-year deal (Lue demanded a fourth year), the Lakers won’t hesitate to dump him for Kidd.
Walton was unemployed for only one day after the Lakers fired him. The Kings dismissed Dave Joerger, who had just led them to their best record in 13 years, and locked up Walton the next day. Apparently Walton remained a hot commodity, the Kings failing to register that he’d just missed the playoffs despite having LeBron, something that hadn’t happened in 14 years. His claims to fame are leading the Warriors to 24-0 start in 2015-16 as Steve Kerr’s replacement and being Bill Walton’s son.
Walton may be a better fit for the up-and-coming young Kings than with the veteran-laden Lakers, but no Kings coach is safe. They’ve had 10 coaches in the past 12 years. They added De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III with consecutive lottery picks, but the Kings only marginally improved this offseason. The signings of Dwayne Dedmon and Corey Joseph aren't going to vault the Kings into the playoffs no matter who the coach is, but the coach might get the blame anyway.
Scott Brooks, Washington Wizards
Brooks is in his fourth season of a five-year deal with Washington, but the team has changed tremendously since the beginning of last season. They lost John Wall to injury, traded Otto Porter and Markieff Morris and lost Tomas Storansky, Trevor Ariza and Bobby Portis in free agency. Of the nine players who started the most games for the Wizards last season, seven are gone. The team will struggle, lurch into full tank mode, and might blow things up entirely and trade Bradley Beal. It’s not what Brooks signed up for three years ago, and a mutual parting of ways might be the best outcome if the Wizards nosedive. But they also might decide to keep Brooks so they don’t have to pay a second coach, because Ted Leonsis needs every penny he can spare to pay for his Fugazi reunion.
Billy Donovan, Oklahoma City Thunder
Donovan was already on shaky ground in Oklahoma City after two straight first-round exits in the playoffs, and when Paul George demanded a trade to the Clippers, his future became shakier than a fracking-related earthquake. He’s in the final year of his contract, and thanks to the George and Westbrook trades, the team is loaded with future draft picks but light on present-day players. The Thunder could get worse if there’s a bad injury to -– or trade offer for -– Chris Paul or Danilo Gallinari, and Donovan, who’s in the last year of his contract, could easily be out the door right behind them. OKC could shift to a more developmental coach, or at least a cheaper one, and Donovan could have his pick of college jobs come spring, maybe even his old job at Florida.
More must-reads:
- Biggest question for each NBA team before training camp begins
- How twilights of LeBron, Kawhi could mirror games of Magic, Jordan
- The 'Yearly NBA playoff leaders in PPG' quiz
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