After firing head coach Nate McMillan following a series loss in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the Indiana Pacers could pursue hiring Houston Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Though D’Antoni is the league’s second-oldest coach at 69 years old, he’s made it clear that he wants to continue coaching for multiple additional seasons. However, the four-year contract he signed upon joining the Rockets in 2016 expires after this season. Thus, a new deal is required.
The Rockets tried to extend D’Antoni in the summer of 2019 for at least one season, but the sides couldn’t reach a financial agreement. However, they’ve vowed to revisit those talks after this season.
The wording of Wojnarowski’s tweet indicates that D’Antoni would be an Indiana target “should he become available,” which would seem to indicate that D’Antoni could stick around and not hit the market.
Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni — in the final year of his contract — will be an Indiana target should he become available, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 26, 2020
Last week, Rockets veteran P.J. Tucker delivered a strong endorsement of D’Antoni as the team’s head coach.
“He’s always with us, no matter what,” Tucker said. He continued:
He’s the first one to come in and say he’ll take the blame. He’ll always look at us and have the same demeanor. Having a veteran group and guys who have been around, having a coach that you can rely on and always be there and have our backs no matter what, I think that’s big. I think that’s why every guy on our team will go to bat for him.
Here's the video of P.J. Tucker on #Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni. Listen to it.
I'm confident that most NBA players don't feel this way about their coach. It's rare to have this level of bond. #OneMission pic.twitter.com/CvONkGbNuK
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) August 20, 2020
