flame away, but...

What about Del Harris? Bring him in as head coach for a couple of years, bring Donny Nelson with him to be groomed as head man thereafter?

He *did* get a rox team to the finals at one point....

Del Harris
College - Milligan College '59
Del Harris joined the Mavericks during the last two months of 1999-2000 in the role of defensive coordinator. Harris starts his second season as an assistant coach. During his time with the Mavericks, the team has posted an impressive 68-34 record in just over a season of working with the team.

Harris is one of the most experienced coaches in the NBA becoming the 20th coach to record over 500 wins. With 13-plus years as a head coach, he has compiled a 556-457 overall record with three different teams. In his last eight full seasons, Harris' clubs won over 400 games.

After his arrival in Los Angeles prior to the 1994-95 season, Harris compiled an impressive 218-110 record (.665), highlighted by the 1997-98 season's 61-21 mark, the best record ever for a Harris-led club. He joined Pat Riley as the only coach in L.A. franchise history to register three consecutive 50-plus wins in a season (53 in 1996, 56 in 1997 and 61 in 1998). The Lakers winning percentage went from .585 to .646 in 1995-96, .646 to .683 in 1996-97 and .683 to .744 in 1997-1998. In that span, only eight coaches have had a higher winning percentage in four straight years with the same team.

In 1994-95 during Harris' first season with the Lakers, Los Angeles recorded its fourth-largest single-season improvement in club history capturing 15 more victories than the previous year (33 to 48). That year Harris received the NBA Coach of the Year award, joining Bill Sharman (1972) and Pat Riley (1990) as the only coaches in team history to earn the honor. In his last three seasons with Los Angeles, the Lakers scored the most total points in the league. Also in 1997-98, the Lakers became only the third team in NBA history to lead the league in scoring while holding the opponents below 100 points per game for the season.

Prior to joining the Lakers, Harris coached in Milwaukee, where he guided the Bucks to four consecutive playoff appearances and compiled a 191-154 overall record (.554) in his four-plus seasons as the head coach (from 1987-88 through the first part of 1991-92). Milwaukee enjoyed such successes despite annually leading the NBA in player games missed due to injuries. During his tenure at Milwaukee, the Bucks established several franchise records, including longest home-winning streak (18), free throw percentage (.820, a then NBA record), and steals (894).

Before assuming Milwaukee's head coaching position in June of 1987, Harris served as the Bucks scout and assistant coach under then-Head Coach Don Nelson (1983-1987).

Del landed his initial NBA job with the Houston Rockets in 1976, spending three years as an assistant coach under Tom Nissalke. The Rockets promoted Harris following Nissalke's departure prior to the 1979-80 campaign. He led the Rockets to playoff berths his first three seasons, highlighted by a trip to the 1981 NBA Finals where Houston lost to the Boston Celtics in six games. The Rockets established a then-NBA record during their march to the Western Conference Championship that season, winning eight games on the road during the playoffs, including the decisive game over the Lakers at the Forum in the first round.

Harris took a short break from coaching for two seasons after leaving the Bucks and prior to joining the Lakers. He remained close to the profession serving as a consultant with the Sacramento Kings in a variety of functions, including scouting NBA and college players. He held that position until accepting the Lakers offer in 1994.

The 63-year old Plainfield, Ind. native has flourished at virtually every level, including the NBA, collegiate, overseas, and high school ranks. His reputation for extracting the most out of his teams is well documented. As the head coach for Earlham College (Indiana), he led the team to a school record 176 victories and the first three confere championships in the school's history during his nine-year stint there. Harris also gained international experience as he coached seven seasons in Puerto Rico (1969-75), posting a 176-61 record and winning three national championships.

Harris has also developed many young players into All-Stars in the NBA. In four years at Los Angeles, he had five different players make the All-Star Team, four for the first time (Cedric Ceballos, Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and Kobe Bryant). He had three players make the All-Rookie Team, including Jones, Bryant and Travis Knight. He also worked with Moses Malone at the Utah Stars and Houston Rockets in Malone's developmental years.
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In the summer of 1998, Del served as one of the assistant coaches for the bronze medal-winning Team USA at the World Championship of Basketball in Athens, Greece. He was joined by Mike Jarvis and Lon Kruger on Head Coach's Rudy Tomjanovich's staff.

Harris attended Milligan College in Tennessee, where he graduated c*m laude in 1959 with a degree in religion. He earned a master's degree in history from Indiana University in 1965.

Del and his wife, Anne, have one son, Nick who is in the sixth grade. He has four children from a previous marriage, sons Larry, Alex and Stan and daughter Carey.