It’s a bad time to be a coach in the NBA. Six of the sixteen coaches whose teams made the playoffs just a couple months ago are no longer with their teams, and the future of a seventh is still in question. Is that really how it’s supposed to go? Jim Boylan in Milwaukee is one thing, the Bucks had a losing record and only made the playoffs because the rest of the East was miserable, but George Karl? Vinny Del Negro? Lionel Hollins? There are people who get paid a whole lot more money than I will ever make in my life who thought those three weren’t good enough coaches to keep on, despite leading their teams to top-five finishes in the brutal West, in two cases with rosters devoid of traditional superstars. Moreover, none of them have hired replacements yet. So maybe I’m just missing something. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Today’s blog has a ton of coaching carousel news, including some speculation on the fate of that potential seventh playoff coach who could be leaving town. Let’s get started.
- The rumors that Chris Paul and Dwight Howard want to play together have been out there for months (seriously, I think I had something about it here in like, March), but if Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine is to be believed, they’re more serious than we thought: “Chris Paul and Dwight Howard have been in consistent contact recently about the possibility of becoming teammates next season, according to league sources. Paul and Howard will be the biggest free agents on the market this summer, and their desire is to play together, the sources said. “They would love to play together if somebody can make it happen,” one of the sources said. The Atlanta Hawks could make it happen. Atlanta, which is Howard’s hometown, has the cap room to sign both players to maximum-salaried contracts. Howard is not particularly fond of the idea of returning to Atlanta, but he would do so to team up with Paul, the sources said.”
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