The Rocktets got their man.
Mike D’Antoni has been hired as the newest head coach in Houston, per multiple published reports.
Rockets hope to improve defense with personnel, staffing, relying on D'Antoni's expertise to maintain the offense, source said.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) May 26, 2016
Jeff Bzdelik remains a likely choice as the defensive specialist, but source said steps remain in selecting staff.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) May 26, 2016
The contract is reportedly a four-year pact, with the final season being a team option.
Per the Houston Chronicle:
D’Antoni, the 76ers’ associate head coach, was chosen for his fifth head coaching position after nearly four weeks of interviews, with most of the final meetings with top assistants.
The Rockets opted for D’Antoni, according to the person with knowledge of the team’s thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made, with a plan to have top defensive assistants on his staff and to improve defensively with roster changes while relying on D’Antoni’s expertise to maintain the offense.
D’Antoni, 65, was the architect of the trend-setting Suns’ offense from 2002 to 2008. He went 253-136 with the Suns, with his teams always in the top five in net rating. The Suns reached the Western Conference Finals in 2005 and 2006 before losing to the Spurs and Lakers. […] He has not replicated that success in his other coaching stops, going 202-290 with the Nuggets, Knicks and Lakers. His defenses, in the middle of the NBA pack with the Suns, were not better than 20th in defensive ratings in his full seasons with the Knicks and Lakers.
