If the Houston Rockets get their way, Jeff Van Gundy will be their next head coach.
We think.
Problem is, we won’t know for a while, since Van Gundy won’t interview while a current head coach is in place. From The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Jeff Van Gundy has been the Houston Rockets’ No. 1 choice, but he is unwilling to talk to the organization while a coach – in this instance, J.B. Bickerstaff – is in place, sources said. Houston and Van Gundy are expected to engage once the Rockets are eliminated from the playoffs and see if there is a chance for them to partner for a second time, league sources said.
On the bright side, Rockets fans, it actually won’t be “a while” before we know whether Van Gundy is your next head coach. The Golden State Warriors should put y’all out of your playoff misery soon enough, even if Stephen Curry gets shut down for the rest of the series.
But we digress.
Van Gundy is an interesting choice here. He would be an ideal fit if the Rockets were planning on keeping Dwight Howard around. He has coached a James Harden-Howard combo before, in Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. McGrady was a better defender than Harden is now, but it’s the same concept.
Perhaps general manager Daryl Morey knows the offense will always work itself out so long as James Harden is in town and will bank on Van Gundy to reinvent the defense. Or maybe the team is hoping Clint Capela or restricted free agents Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas could benefit from his tutelage.
Regardless of the reasoning, though, Van Gundy would be a fun hire, if only because his postgame pressers stand to be epic.
