After not extending the contract of former head coach Stephen Silas, one thing the Houston Rockets needed to do was to bring some credibility back to an organization that has had a rough three years.
During the Silas era, the Rockets went 59-177 (.250), which was well below the NBA average and his own expectations.
Many will say that it was due to his coaching style, while others will tell you that he was never allowed to display the talent and skills he had developed as a lifelong NBA assistant coaching the likes of LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Luka Doncic. The revolving door of players coming in and out of the organization, along with the league’s youngest lineup this past season, was a recipe for disaster.
On Monday, it was reported that the Rockets will hire former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka to become their next head coach.
The Celtics suspended Udoka after leading the team to the NBA Finals in his first season after his involvement in an improper relationship with a staff member of the organization. He would later be dismissed by the team and replaced by Joe Mazzulla.
Udoka comes from basketball royalty, having played for legendary San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich before coaching under him for seven seasons as an assistant. After that, he spent a season with the 76ers and Nets, respectively, including time with former Rockets star James Harden during his Brooklyn stint.
Yet, even with a trip to the 2022 NBA Finals, some are still hesitant to believe that he is the right hire for the Rockets. Morally, many people take issue with the fact that there appear to be a lot of unanswered questions about the scandal that cost him his job in Boston.
Many are under the assumption that some of the incidents have been swept under the rug by his former team and the NBA. Although the Rockets did their due diligence by checking in with both the Celtics and the league office, some fear they did the bare minimum.
Then, there is the question of whether Udoka’s stern coaching style will translate to a locker room that consists of young talents such as Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Jabari Smith Jr., and Alperen Sengun. He is known as a stern, disciplinarian, which is the opposite of Silas.
Upon arriving in Boston, Udoka inherited a veteran-laden team with starters like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, and Al Horford. Once he officially takes over head coaching duties in Houston, his oldest starter from last season will be 22 years old.
One of the on-court concerns regarding Udoka is the sample size the Rockets used to select him. In one season, he led the Celtics to a 51-31 record and the East’s No. 2 seed, which was much improved from Boston’s 36-36 (.500) record the previous year. After losing to Golden State in the 2022 NBA Finals (4-2), many believed that Udoka would have them competing for championships for years.
Yet, the 2022-23 Celtics have not missed a beat, as they finished this regular season winning six more games (57) and another No. 2 seed under Joe Mazzulla. Entering Tuesday, they have a 3-1 lead over Atlanta in their ongoing first-round playoff series.
Without Udoka, Boston did not regress. In fact, they actually improved. They appear to be on the same path they were on a season ago, and it has little to do with the estranged Udoka.
So, did the Rockets reach by hiring a successful one-year coach whose team got better after he was gone? Or, is Udoka the right hire to help lead Houston into phase two of its rebuilding process?
Assuming history does not repeat itself with Udoka and he stays with the team, those questions will be answered over the next three years.
