[Woj] Van Gundy is at the top of the Rockets’ list of candidates

Rockets:
Thorpe: Can they get Thibs? I like Thibs for Minnesota & Houston, we know what he does defensively. My assistants did studies of sideline out of bounds plays as well as half court sets in late game situations. Thibs numbers were terrific in terms of the quality of shot they got. He's really good at getting guys to play better than they were playing before. Rose, Noah, Butler, Gibson — he made them better. Houston & Minnesota have a lot of talent. Morey's roster is unbelievable. He'd be fantastic. I'd worry about Van Gundy. I don't know how he'd coach. You'd think he'd recognize the game is so different than when he last coached. He was too young to connect with players with his personality but now it's cute & adorable when you can be that guy to these players who are 19-25-28. I think they'll like him. I just hope he coaches the way the game is played now and not how he did it. Mark Jackson would not have this GS team anywhere close to where they are now because of what he did when he was coaching. He was old school. If Jeff did it the right way, he'd be great.

Windhorst: Chris Finch is a guy who has been on their staff for awhile who has been identified as a promotable coach and has a good relationship with Daryl Morey & that'd be an interesting choice. However, Les Alexander is driving the decision in this coaching search, not Daryl Morey. Les has always wanted big name coaches with experience. He inherited Rudy T but JVG, Adelman, McHale, he wants guys who are well known. I tend to think whoever the next coach is will be a coach who coached elsewhere and had success. That's why Thibodeau comes up and there could be other names. Going on past history, a resume like that.

Arnovitz: Both Finch & Nick Nurse would be interesting. Both graduates of RVG, high flying offense. That's what they want to play in Houston. Both came up in the Rockets system and were identified as NBA talent but I agree, they'll go big game hunting.

Thorpe: Never been a fan but proved me wrong last year and that's Kevin McHale. I'd love for them to say we screwed up. We had a terrible start, our best player was lazy in the summer or whatever adjective you want to use to describe his summer, awful to start the season. They weren't built to withstand that. I wish they'll say we should have kept him. Harden doesn't love him but also don't think Harden loved what happened after he left. He has the personality to coach the way they want to play. They have AAU talent wise. Not a connected group. Very dispirited talent but McHale is great at connecting people. Everyone but Harden loved playing for him and after this year I think even Harden would get back on board. I know it's not gonna happen but would love for them to say we screwed up.

Spoiler

Podcast with Windhorst, Thorpe & Arnovitz

Windhorst:

•Thibs has been seeking this [Minnesota] job for months

•Horford, if offered 5 years, that 5th year will be over $30M. Magic will use their cap space and offer [former Florida Gators] Horford & Parsons max deals.

•DeRozan will be offered max contracts on July 1. [Mentions Lakers] Raptors only keep him if they offer a max. I'm not sure they'll do that. Lakers rumor has been out there for awhile.

•Bradley Beal will get multiple max offers. Wizards have matching rights. He's had a difficult time staying healthy and possibility he'll be a restricted minutes player. When he's pushed it, he's developed stress reactions in his legs. He can only play about 35 minutes a night. There was a period during this season when Wittman went hard on Beal and played him over 40 minutes and that triggered the stress reaction and had to shut him down. Now he may not be a guy who can ever play 40 minutes. You have to make a decision. On the other hand, competition is so fierce that if you aren't prepared to match, he'll be gone. Wizards have no recourse to replace him. They aren't a destination. They have no other young players. Porter has not developed. Wizards may have to do it.

Who should they hire & will they hire?

Kings:
Thorpe: Should hire Messina or Blatt; no faith Vlade Divac will make the right decision

Windhorst: Interesting name is Nate McMillan. Adelman is consulting on the hire. Adelman doesn't have a coaching tree per se. McMillan spent time with Rick when he was in between jobs. They have a relationship. Adelman & Divac are old school guys. They still have shown they operate in a decadge-ago era. They're pacific northwest guys. I wouldn't be surprised if McMillan emerges.

Knicks:
Windhorst: With all due respect to Rambis, he's not demonstrated he's a quality NBA coach. It should not be Rambis. Blatt is an interesting name there. Blatt got a difficult hand in Cleveland. He believes in the Princeton system. Blatt should get an interview in NY. Honestly, we're wasting our time. There will be moment of truth in NY and that'll happen when Phil goes to Dolan and says I've done a coaching search, I've talked to [A, B, C & D] and I want Rambis to be my coach. Jim will say "You are my team president and I trust you." or "I can't accept that and you have to hire someone else." At that moment of truth, folks in the Knicks org. don't know what will happen. Some will say back the man you're paying $12M/year and let him choose and others say you gotta stick your hand in there and stop the madness.

Thorpe: Good teams exist because of the decisions bad teams make. We're connected guys. We just talked about Nate McMillan & Kurt Rambis. Bad teams make their decisions and good teams live off that.

Rockets:
Thorpe: Can they get Thibs? I like Thibs for Minnesota & Houston, we know what he does defensively. My assistants did studies of sideline out of bounds plays as well as half court sets in late game situations. Thibs numbers were terrific in terms of the quality of shot they got. He's really good at getting guys to play better than they were playing before. Rose, Noah, Butler, Gibson — he made them better. Houston & Minnesota have a lot of talent. Morey's roster is unbelievable. He'd be fantastic. I'd worry about Van Gundy. I don't know how he'd coach. You'd think he'd recognize the game is so different than when he last coached. He was too young to connect with players with his personality but now it's cute & adorable when you can be that guy to these players who are 19-25-28. I think they'll like him. I just hope he coaches the way the game is played now and not how he did it. Mark Jackson would not have this GS team anywhere close to where they are now because of what he did when he was coaching. He was old school. If Jeff did it the right way, he'd be great.

Windhorst: Chris Finch is a guy who has been on their staff for awhile who has been identified as a promotable coach and has a good relationship with Daryl Morey & that'd be an interesting choice. However, Les Alexander is driving the decision in this coaching search, not Daryl Morey. Les has always wanted big name coaches with experience. He inherited Rudy T but JVG, Adelman, McHale, he wants guys who are well known. I tend to think whoever the next coach is will be a coach who coached elsewhere and had success. That's why Thibodeau comes up and there could be other names. Going on past history, a resume like that.

Arnovitz: Both Finch & Nick Nurse would be interesting. Both graduates of RVG, high flying offense. That's what they want to play in Houston. Both came up in the Rockets system and were identified as NBA talent but I agree, they'll go big game hunting.

Thorpe: Never been a fan but proved me wrong last year and that's Kevin McHale. I'd love for them to say we screwed up. We had a terrible start, our best player was lazy in the summer or whatever adjective you want to use to describe his summer, awful to start the season. They weren't built to withstand that. I wish they'll say we should have kept him. Harden doesn't love him but also don't think Harden loved what happened after he left. He has the personality to coach the way they want to play. They have AAU talent wise. Not a connected group. Very dispirited talent but McHale is great at connecting people. Everyone but Harden loved playing for him and after this year I think even Harden would get back on board. I know it's not gonna happen but would love for them to say we screwed up.

Wizards:
Windhorst: Tough situation. 8 free agents and only 4 guys under contract. Ernie Grunfeld has one year left on his contract. You don't know the team you'll be coaching. You do have Wall & Beal. Will the owner spend money? Let's say they don't get Durant, which looks like a longshot, will they use that salary hold to sign another major contributor like Barnes or Batum? Ted Leonis doesn't believe in overspending. If that's the case, you don't know what your team will look like. It's being regarded as the second best open job. There's a mystery to it. You don't know who your boss will be in two years. The expectations are high. You don't know who or what your rotation is.

Thorpe: Brooks would be fantastic there. What he does, I was impressed in OKC how they got better defensively. It was a common narrative: defense, defense, defense. As we see in OKC this year, it doesn't matter who's coaching. Those guys will do what they want to do. I don't know what Brooks can do offensively. Maybe it'll be worst because he won't have Durant/Westbrook but preaches playing the right way and will get them to defend consistently. Wall should be all-defense every year. He took a step back this year. He knows how to win the right way. I think KD realizes I liked playing for him and Durant is frustrated. He's not only not the best player on his own team, no one talks about him first team with LeBron, Leonard, George, etc. I was the best player behind LeBron with Brooks. I know he'll have an amazing package for me and I won't have a PG who shoots as much. Why not bring in the guy he was playing best for before?

Windhorst: I agree with you David. We're not speculating, (paraphrasing) Durant said, I don't like how I'm not being regarded as a top player anymore. It's not fair. He's right, it's not fair. Why go play with Curry? If he wanted to play for me, I'd move heaven and earth. That's not what I'm talking about. Then there's a shoe issue. You don't want to go to a place where Under Armour guy runs the show. Thunder do have to worry about some places. I don't think GS is one of them for reasons Kevin himself elaborated on.