The Coaching Carousel
The NBA Finals aren’t even over yet and over a third of teams in the league have already replaced their coach.
Out of the nine teams to make a move five have already re-hired. The famous Gregg Popovich coaching tree has been picked at yet again in the shape of long-time Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer who’ll leave the organisation after almost two decades of backroom coaching, to become the main man in Atlanta when the Playoffs end. It’s going to be a rumour filled and potentially franchise changing summer down in Georgia with the future of Josh Smith a complete mystery; maybe a calming figure from the mould of Coach Pop will be a step in the right direction for the Hawks.
Next up a trip to North Carolina where the ever evolving Charlotte Bobcats (possibly soon to be Hornets again) have hired their third coach in just as many years. This time MJ has gone for Steve Clifford – a relative unknown outside of the Dwight Howard saga of the past 12 months. He has been coaching in the NBA as an assistant since the turn of the millennium, almost exclusively for the Van Gundy brothers. First under Jeff in New York and Houston before then having a five year spell under Mike at the Orlando Magic, a time in which he became close with Howard. Rumour has it that he spent the past year with the Lakers to smooth the process of fitting the star big man in. Job number one in Charlotte, WIN GAMES. A 28-120 record over the past two seasons is shameful even for a rebuilding franchise.
Third on the list is the return of a familiar face to Cleveland fans. A man who brought them a series of deep playoff runs including an NBA Finals appearance and an All Star call up. These previous two lines may take up column inches one day if King James ever returns but for now I’m talking about the return of Mike Brown. The blueprint laid to employ the Princeton offence for the Lakers was deemed a failure and he was released after less than 18 months in charge. With such a talented scorer and passer combined with sheer speed in Kyrie Irving, it’s unlikely that he’ll try to employ the same system back in the Eastern Conference. A promising summer awaits for the Cav’s, they have the first pick in the draft, a pick which is rumoured to be up for sale to teams around the league looking to trade to save on cap space.
Larry Drew’s contract expired over in Atlanta after three seasons in charge when the Hawk’s playoff run ended, and his resume immediately attracted the attention of Eastern Rivals Milwaukee who signed him to a two year contract. Milwaukee is a promising team to a new coach, young energetic scorers and an attractive amount of cap space to work with; first things first however, the team lacks a leader on the court and the last coach to take them beyond the first round of the Playoffs was this year’s NBA coach of year George Karl over a decade ago.
Last but not least in the already confirmed coaching shake ups is the only confirmed hire so far in the Western Conference, and the appointment in Phoenix of former player Jeff Hornacek. Hornachek had a long playing career involving six seasons at Phoenix and having his jersey retired over in Utah. The Phoenix franchise is in desperate need of rebuilding, it has the least regarded executive staff in the NBA, measures so desperate that Charles Barkley even believes he can be an effective GM for the franchise. Playoffs aren’t an option next season but if the new coach can bring even a scrap of respectability back to the franchise it will be a successful first season.
What coach awaits Brooklyn, Philly, the Clippers or the Pistons is still a mystery and something we’ll most likely have to wait until after the Finals to find out.