HOUSTON — Two hours before the Rockets regular season home finale, head coach Stephen Silas addressed the media in customary fashion — seated at a podium in a tucked away room in the bowels of the Toyota Center — but something felt different. In the three years that Silas had held the position, his affable and jovial demeanor had permeated pregame sessions. That Monday evening, however, Silas seemed reflective and introspective, almost as if he knew the questions about his future were coming. He spoke like a man confident in himself even amidst the unknown that lay ahead. “I am proud of the job that I’ve done,” Silas said. “I have a three-year contract and this is the last home game of my three years, so whatever happens happens after this, but I can’t be anything but proud.” If his words felt like a bittersweet goodbye of sorts, it’s because it was. When he originally took the job in 2020, Silas was given a three-year contract with a team option of extending it for an additional year through the 2023-24 season. But Sunday’s afternoon win over the Washington Wizards was Silas’ final game on Houston’s sidelines, multiple league sources, who like all of the sources in this story were granted anonymity so that they could speak freely, tell The Athletic. Silas, who compiled a 59-177 record during his tenure, will not have his option picked up by the organization and the sides have a meeting set on Monday for formal word on his ouster, sources say. The Rockets believe a coaching change is necessary for the next stage in their multi-step process toward sustainable success, and are prioritizing a more established coach as the next hire. Nonetheless, it’s a disappointing end to a relationship forged from a hopeful beginning. After the Rockets’ perfunctory second-round exit to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 playoffs, then-head coach Mike D’Antoni decided to step down from his position. Daryl Morey, who had served as general manager for over a decade and saw the writing on the wall, followed suit shortly thereafter. Silas, a longtime assistant who was widely respected for his offensive acumen, was coming off a year in which he was an integral part of the Dallas Mavericks’ 115.9 offensive rating — the highest in NBA history at the time. During Houston’s ensuing coaching search, Silas charmed the front office and ownership with his X’s and O’s cognizance, instilling confidence he could find an efficient on-court harmony with James Harden and Russell Westbrook and put the Rockets back in title contention — and convinced the organization he was the right candidate for the job. Upon his hire, however, things quickly took a turn for the worse. Westbrook pushed aggressively for Silas to be the team’s new head coach, sources said, but requested a trade in the weeks to follow. Westbrook was shipped to Washington for John Wall, Harden requested a trade himself and his departure to the Brooklyn Nets ultimately was left with several ill-fitting pieces to work. Silas, who had spent 20 seasons on the sidelines as an assistant hoping he’d one day earn a chance to run a team as the head coach, suddenly found himself in an uncomfortable position. In an instant, the Rockets went from having one of the top young coaches at the helm of a contending team around Harden and Westbrook to a full-blown rebuild. Although Silas’ tenure began in 2020, the clock on Houston’s rebuild didn’t officially start ticking until the following season and the 2021 draft, with Jalen Green and Alperen Şengün taken with the second and 16th overall picks, respectively. After Silas’ first season, he and the Rockets organization understood the franchise’s path forward. Internally, Silas and the front office had open-ended conversations about the rebuilding approach. Four rookies drafted that summer signaled a change from what Silas had anticipated — but a challenge he embraced nonetheless. But it was around this same time, sources say, that Silas felt his influence on the team was being suppressed even more. For Silas, the challenges escalated each year, with priorities centered on accumulating young talent, draft capital and achieving financial and roster flexibility rather than on-court results, the typical basis on which coaches and their job security depend. The Rockets have accomplished their goals of draft picks (seven first-round picks through 2029) and salary cap flexibility for years to come (upwards of $60 million in space this summer). Throughout Silas’ tenure, the looming presence of general manager Rafael Stone was also one the head coach had to manage. While the two had constant positive dialogue, Stone, sources say, was routinely present for practices, shootarounds, coaches meetings and film sessions at home and on the road, often giving his input and suggestions of his own accord. And on one occasion prior to the 2021-22 season, Stone interrupted a Silas-led session to give his input on and show defensive positions to a few players who were present, sources with direct knowledge of the instance say. The interference reached a point where Silas eventually had to inform Stone he could no longer halt the coach’s practice sessions. “Stephen had to address the front office and check them,” one source familiar with the matter said. Such an incident never happened again. And yet the apparent control by Silas manifested itself with a lack of accountability in and outside the locker room. Silas, sources say, experienced difficulty at times connecting with players like Christian Wood and Kevin Porter Jr., evident in suspensions for both in January 2022. Wall and Silas were close and might have helped establish order, but the decision to exclude the veteran point guard from the rotation was a directive from management. Between Wood, Green, Eric Gordon and Porter, there was an underlying battle for pecking order. As a result, there was an overall lack of leadership. “I feel like I can take on more of a (leadership) role,” Green said after a frustrating late November road loss to the Knicks. “Just get back to what we do — or maybe take control of the ball. Get on the ball more. I don’t know. I’m a rookie, I still have a lot of figuring out to do at this moment. I don’t want to force anything or try to make it seem like I’m trying to take over. When that time comes, it will come.” However, sources close to Green pushed for more structure and play-calling, believing that the freelance system and a lack of a true floor general weren’t conducive to the rookie’s development.
The absence of leadership off the floor turned into chaos on it, with a lack of winning habits the only consistent theme in a 20-62 season. Offensively, players deviated from game plans and resorted to their own means. Defensively, the effort was largely null and void on a nightly basis. It’s no surprise that the Rockets, per Cleaning the Glass, have ranked in the bottom four in offensive and defensive efficiency over the last three seasons. “I’m glad I got out of there when I did,” one former player told The Athletic. As the final buzzer sounded in Crypto.com Arena on Halloween night and the Clippers faithful erupted in jubilation, a dejected Silas slowly led his group’s procession off the floor. The emotions were there for all to see on the head coach’s face as he ducked under the tunnel and stopped for a quiet moment in the hallway before speaking to the media — frustration, despondence, and sorrow seemingly all in one. The collection of players that followed behind him were in emotional synchrony, wholly aware of the magnitude of the game that had just slipped through their fingers. Their missed opportunity, and the shared angst that came with it, was the main topic of discussion in the locker room that evening. It was a battle that came down to mere inches — Gordon’s outstretched hand to Paul George’s contested fadeaway jumper in the game’s dying seconds — but in reality, the Rockets were miles away from competing on a serious level. And the result, another Rockets loss, brought with it the pain that has become an all-too-familiar feeling under Silas and this organization. A glance would suggest that this is just another young team going through growing pains in the middle of a rebuild. But as multiple sources shared in extensive discussions about what was happening both then and now beneath the surface, this was a struggling group with an identity crisis, a head coach on his way out, a front office that desperately needs to return these Rockets to relevance and a frustrated owner who’s not afraid to make necessary changes. At the outset of the rebuilding process, the Rockets had a clear outline of their objectives. Harden’s abrupt departure in January 2020 had rocked the organization to a degree but was nothing the franchise couldn’t rebound from — especially with a savvy front office led by Stone and the benefit of time on their side. Because of their goals and a projection-based timeline to return to contention, there would naturally be progress markers. The Rockets knew all along that this season was, in essence, a waiting game as the 2023 draft drew near, with Fertitta’s infamous “Pray for Victor” line on the streets of New Orleans a clear sign of the hope that was attached to French phenom Victor Wembanyama. It was also lining up with a summer that would see them have a considerable amount of cap space and a real opportunity to improve. For Silas, that meant he would be their coaching placeholder of sorts so long as a few basic objectives were met: Inspire this young group of players to compete at a high level, to do so together, and to improve along the way. A simple series of tasks in a vacuum, but judging from what had transpired over the past two seasons, a difficult one. A rocky 2-12 start mirrored a 1-15 start the year prior, both of which came with serious thoughts of firing Silas, sources told The Athletic. Internal progress markers were set which he had to meet to continue on as head coach but ultimately, he was able to save his job in both instances with several timely wins during those early evaluation periods. Silas then dealt with the loss of his father, Paul, on Dec. 11, by which point the Rockets fully intended to allow Silas to finish the season. But the crux of this season’s struggles, again, was a lack of identity. Similar to the year prior, there was still no clear pecking order offensively. The Rockets drafted Jabari Smith Jr. with the third overall pick but struggled to incorporate him into the offense for much of the season that already featured two high-usage guards who struggled with offensive cohesion and execution in Green and Porter. That, combined with a disgruntled Gordon and an improved Şengün — who actually began the year as a backup to Bruno Fernando — made Houston’s turnover-laden offense an even bigger mess. Şengün’s importance to Houston’s overall offense was clear — a whopping seven points better with him on the floor, per Cleaning the Glass — but his style at times clashed with the team’s lead guards. In the last few weeks of the season, Green and Şengün have been able to build on their chemistry. The issues with Porter and Green appeared to stem from a lack of meaningful ball movement. Houston was a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of passes made per game, but was last in assists and 12th in isolations per game. The Rockets were also 12th in points on such possessions, making the offense was stagnant and easy to defend. And then there was the issue of Gordon, the lone veteran who bridged two eras and grew weary of the surrounding dysfunction. While Gordon understood the organizational tack the Rockets were taking, sources say he approached Silas before the season with a proposition: He wanted to be featured more prominently, and consistently, in the offense. Gordon believed that could aid in the young guards’ development, and that his own trade value around the league would be raised as a result. It would be a win-win scenario, he believed. Silas, a huge fan of the former Sixth Man of the Year, fully understood where Gordon was coming from but reiterated that things were out of his control, sources say. Prior to Gordon’s February departure, he had expressed his frustrations with on and off-court developments on multiple occasions to teammates, the coaching staff and upper management. Gordon’s value and importance to Houston was clear but there were moments in-season where Silas went away from the expected and deferred to him in late-game scenarios when the organizational preference would have been to have played through Green or Porter. The Rockets lost a variety of games due to fourth-quarter collapses, some of them boiling down to mismanagement of the coaching staff. From a talent perspective, Houston had enough firepower to make games competitive but lacked understanding of bridging the gap — which boils down to the head coach’s responsibility. Progress was certainly made, most notably with Green’s ability to draw contact and get to the free throw line, the ascension of Kenyon Martin Jr., Smith’s improvement and Porter’s maturity and efficiency. With an ensuing coaching search, upwards of $60 million in cap space and the potential of the proverbial slate being wiped clean, the pressure suddenly shifts from Silas back to Stone and a front office that needs to right the ship. Sources say the Rockets’ initial coaching candidates are expected to be Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson, former Lakers coach Frank Vogel, ex-Hornets coach James Borrego, Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin and ex-Celtics coach Ime Udoka. The Rockets are expected to have a list of about eight candidates, according to sources. Nurse is regarded as among the league’s top coaches and would be the top target for opening vacancies should he and the Raptors part ways, placing him in the driver’s seat of his future. Nurse has one season remaining on his contract, which is worth more than $8 million per year, according to sources. Whoever it is that ultimately fills that role, many questions remain beyond the coaching seat. Will they land Wembanyama in the June 22 draft, or perhaps the presumptive No. 2 pick in Scoot Henderson? There is, sources say, significant pressure on Stone to get this summer right. “It could be a make or break summer for (Stone),” one source with knowledge of the team’s dynamics said. For Silas’ part, he’ll leave Houston with the belief that he made the best of a difficult situation. This was a time of transition for these Rockets, who went from making the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons (including five trips past the first round) to those three challenging years on his watch. “It’s been fun,” Silas said earlier this week of his time in Houston. “It’s been a great experience. It has been something that I’ll treasure for my whole life. Being a part of this organization, being in this stage with these wide-eyed young guys and their want to be coached, taught and mentored at times. I’m thankful to all the people who poured into me so I could pour back out to them. It’s been a rough year as far as a lot of things but I am so proud of these guys and their growth.”
Good bye Stephen, we hardly knew ya. I say he did what he was asked to do: lose a lot of games. When you give him a team of players whose average age is 21, cannot expect much else. Regarding future coaches, I like Udokah best. I am a big NO on either Vogel or Atkinson. This is exactly what I fear will happen. I hope everyone enjoys going 40-42 (at best) if we go with either of these two dudes. Also, you can forget about FAs coming here with either one of those two are the HC. May as well go and hire Mark Jackson.
Getting Wemby could impact the quality of coach we will get. If we get him , the top tier ones looking for a new team are going to want to come here.
worst general manager of all time (with no cv, just with a father with small nba exp), firing the worst coach of all time (with no cv, just with a father with a lot of nba exp).
Damn that was quick I think KPJ stays point guard, Silver hands us Wemby, and we drop 50mil on the bench Tate & KJ get moved to make room for our two picks and a couple vets
My guess: After the game, Silas entered the locker room and found a message from Stone and Ferntits saying he'd need to arrange for his own transportation back to Houston.
Sounds like exactly what some of us saw. There wasn't much of a leadership, looks like it wasn't completely Silas' fault and he tried to put his foot down but it was probably too late. Hopefully moving forward the next coach won't have to deal with the GM trying to coach up the defense or deal with being told who to play and what to do and hopefully the players won't just go off script. I would say that's on the coach but it's not like Silas could have benched any of the players for ignoring his gameplan.
Ugly. You're going to make a guy look bad because he won the same amount of games the franchise wanted but not in exactly the "right" way? Popovic would have had the same record. Silas never interviewed to lead a bunch of kids either, it wasn't supposed to be his skillet. It's time to move on from Silas and I'm glad. However don't let the organization fool you into believing this isn't exactly what they wanted. They're just covering their ass. They had no idea that the way we tank matters at all and are only acting now like they knew it all along. This was a tactical tank job and Silas was the nice guy they needed who probably believed they'd let him coach a vet team without it being in writing. Good luck to him, hope this has taught him a lot. I look forward to the coaching search, they better get a guy who can teach the front office some sh*t.
it's 100% Eric Gordon just off the vibe of the article. a lot of the information there seems fed by eric gordon.
