The Houston Rockets have made it clear in the young offseason they intend to make some changes.
Between the coaching staff and reports of everyone but James Harden possibly being available for trade, there’s no reason to expect the same Rockets team will take the floor in 2019-20. And there was no greater affirmation of that being the case than Houston and Mike D’Antoni not agreeing on an extension, making him a lame duck coach in 2019-20.
Neither Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta nor general manager Daryl Morey was too concerned about the way negotiations broke down. When addressing reporters on Thursday, Morey didn’t seem worried about the situation and expressed the two parties can revisit the issue after the 2019-20 season.
We’re always ‘win or else,’ that’s the business. If we could’ve worked out a deal with Mike we would have. It happens all the time in sports where, I have players who ask for extensions and if we can work it out we do and if we can’t we don’t. But then we move forward and try to win games. The reality is it’s a results-based business. And so, everyone does well when you have good results and everyone doesn’t do well when you don’t. For me, it’s fine. I know coach D’Antoni is fine. He would’ve preferred to work something out, but we didn’t. We’ll work something out after the next season, it’s fine.
Fertitta handled the situation a little differently, going as far as to say D’Antoni’s agent gave him an out.
I don’t know what ‘lame duck’ means because he’s under contract. I think his agent did me a favor. OK? Because if for some reason we had a horrible year and we thought we needed to make a coaching change — we just got through paying off one of the other coaches, I believe. I hope we win a championship and Mike comes and puts gun to my head.
With the multiple changes the Rockets have made as of late — and there likely being more on the horizon — D’Antoni is clearly in a much different position than he was previously.
Now, he could be in a better spot, especially if Houston truly is still trying to win now. But if the Rockets don’t hit on the moves they make, then Fertitta may be able to take advantage of the “out” he now believes he has.
