With Stephen Silas set to become a head coach for the first time, the Houston Rockets are reportedly planning to surround the 47-year-old with assistants who do have prior lead experience in the NBA.
Per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, candidates for the assistant coaching roles beneath Silas include John Lucas, Jeff Hornacek, and Nate McMillan. Lucas was a finalist for the head job alongside Silas and Jeff Van Gundy, and he already has relationships with many Rockets players as the team’s director of player development since 2016.
Now 66 years old, Lucas was previously a head coach with San Antonio, Philadelphia, and Cleveland in the 1990s and early 2000s.
As mentioned in the story, the Rockets have some very interesting names in mind to work with Silas, per multiple sources. https://t.co/foOg7N1If3
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 28, 2020
Meanwhile, the 57-year-old Hornacek led the Phoenix Suns from 2013 through 2016 and the New York Knicks from 2016 through 2018. In 2013-14, he was the NBA’s runner-up for Coach of the Year.
Known best for his motion offenses, Hornacek has plenty of familiarity with Houston from his playing days in the 1990s with the Utah Jazz. (In his six seasons there, Utah faced the Rockets in the playoffs three times.)
Finally, the 56-year-old McMillan has served as head coach with three different teams: the Seattle SuperSonics (2000-2005), the Portland Trail Blazers (2005-2012), and most recently the Indiana Pacers (2016-2020). Known as a player for pesky defense, that trait has seemingly translated well to McMillan’s coaching style, with the Pacers ranking third and sixth in the NBA in net defensive rating over the last two seasons.
Feigen mentions Nate McMillan as a potential assistant coach with Silas, which I think is good news for the Rockets in terms of defense. Under Nate McMillan, the Indiana Pacers ranked as follows in defensive rating:
2016-17: 15th
2017-18: 12th
2018-19: 3rd
2019-20: 6th https://t.co/gIP6HWFg9g
— Roosh (@RooshWilliams) October 28, 2020
With Silas and Hornacek known best for their abilities on offense, McMillan might serve as the de facto defensive coordinator — similar to the role Jeff Bzdelik played for Mike D’Antoni from 2016 through 2019.
There is no clear timetable for when the assistants will be named.
