(Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
The Houston Rockets stacked arguably more talent than any other team in the NBA over the past couple of seasons.
They made the most of James Harden’s departure to put up one of the most promising young cores in the league.
And even though having a young team is rarely a guarantee of success in this league, the lack of development between seasons raised doubts about Stephen Silas’ ability to lead this team going forward.
So, now that Silas is gone, the Rockets will reportedly pursue former Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Nurse will immediately become a prominent candidate in the Houston Rockets’ coaching search, sources tell ESPN. He won the 2019 NBA title as Raptors coach, and was voted the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2023
Nurse was relieved of his duties earlier on Friday after months of speculation about his future with the organization.
There were rumors of him not seeing eye-to-eye with some of the players, and the situation may have become untenable.
Notably, Nurse had four winning seasons in charge of the team, with their only sub.-500 campaign coming in the pandemic season, when they were forced to relocate to Florida because of Canada’s health and safety regulations.
He led them to the NBA championship in his first year on the job, following that with an NBA Coach of the Year campaign.
He’ll be a major upgrade over Silas in terms of game-planning and adjustment, as the Rockets were heavily criticized for their iso-heavy offense and lack of fundamentals.
The Rockets are stacked with talent and will have some cash to spare in the off-season, so look out for them if they manage to get one of the best guys available as their coach.
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