{"id":34543,"date":"2020-10-28T18:00:58","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T22:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=34543"},"modified":"2020-10-28T18:00:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T22:00:58","slug":"houston-rockets-finalizing-deal-with-stephen-silas-to-become-head-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/10\/28\/houston-rockets-finalizing-deal-with-stephen-silas-to-become-head-coach\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Rockets Finalizing Deal with Stephen Silas to Become Head Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"

Houston, we do not have a problem. The Houston Rockets<\/a> are finalizing a deal to bring in Dallas Mavericks’<\/a> assistant Stephen Silas as their new head coach. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the news Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Houston Rockets to Hire Stephen Silas as Head Coach<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In 2016, Silas was a head coaching candidate before the Rockets chose to sign Mike D’Antoni<\/a><\/strong> for the position. The Rockets narrowed down their candidate pool to three finalists: current Houston assistant John Lucas II<\/a><\/strong>, ESPN broadcaster and former Rockets’ coach Jeff Van Gundy, and Silas.<\/p>\n

According to Wojnarowski, Houston was sold on the 47-year old assistant’s offensive creativity. In addition, his experience under Mavericks’ head coach Rick Carlisle<\/a> <\/strong>and Steve Clifford helped solidify his coaching methods.<\/p>\n

Silas’s NBA Experience<\/h2>\n

While he has no head coaching experience, he makes up for it. Often, prospective coaches possess other traits and abilities to make up for lack of experience, similar to a standard job seeker. In Silas’s case, his scouting and player development experience helps his portfolio. The son of former All-Star and head coach Paul Silas<\/a><\/strong> became the league’s youngest assistant coach in 2000 at 27-years old.<\/p>\n

He was promoted to assistant head coach with the New Orleans\/Charlotte Hornets<\/a> that same year. Silas left the Hornets to the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>, where he worked under his father from 2003-2005. He coached LeBron James<\/a><\/strong> in his first two seasons in the NBA. Then, Silas worked in the Washington Wizards’<\/a>\u00a0scouting department during the 2005-2006 season. He became an assistant for four seasons with the Golden State Warriors<\/a>, where he helped develop Stephen Curry<\/a><\/strong>. In 2010, Silas returned to Charlotte as an assistant under Clifford until 2018, when he joined Carlisle’s staff in Dallas.<\/p>\n

What stands out is his recent success with the Mavericks. He helped direct and build an offense around Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a><\/strong>, who statistically had the most efficient offense in NBA history. Silas will have an opportunity to build a powerhouse offense with the duo of Russell Westbrook<\/a><\/strong> and James Harden<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>