The Best NBA Job Nobody Wants
Chris Paul (photo. Zach Wolfe)
For the 25 NBA teams out of the race for this year’s championship, all thoughts are geared toward next season — the draft, free agency, buyouts and extensions, and finding a marketing strategy to draw in new and old season-ticket holders. (“New York Knicks Basketball: Let’s See What Happens!”)
For at least five organizations, and probably more (Atlanta?), finding a head coach is on top of the To-Do list. In a DimeMag.com poll last week, Chicago was the overwhelming choice over New Jersey, Philly, New Orleans and the Clippers to the question, “Which job is most appealing to an NBA coaching candidate?”
That was easy, though: The Bulls are coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, they have one young superstar in Derrick Rose, tons of cap space and big-city appeal to attract another superstar free agent this summer, and quality role players with playoff experience like Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and Kirk Hinrich. The only downside to the Chicago job is the unstable front-office situation, but with Vinny Del Negro having gotten into a physical fight with the team’s Vice President not too long ago, the bar has been set pretty low for the next guy.
We’ve been over why the Sixers and Clippers are no-win situations, while the Nets job offers a deep-pocketed owner, 2010 cap space, a chance to work in New York City (someday), and young building blocks led by Brook Lopez and Devin Harris.
Which leaves the one head coaching job opening nobody seems to be talking about, the one for which the top candidates aren’t reported to be fighting over: New Orleans.
Why wouldn’t you want to coach the Hornets? The next coach walks onto a team that has perhaps the best point guard in the League and a Top-15 player in Chris Paul, a certified All-Star big man in David West, and a solid rebounder/shot-blocker in Emeka Okafor; and all three of them under contract through 2012 at least. You’ve got Darren Collison and Marcus Thornton, an explosive young backcourt tandem coming off stellar rookie seasons. You’ve got respected veterans in Mo Pete and James Posey to help keep any knuckleheads in check, and you’ve even got a malleable pet project in Julian Wright. Peja Stojakovic‘s albatross contract comes off the books in 2011, along with Mo Pete and Darius Songaila, giving N.O. some cap space next summer.
The Hornets were a playoff team as recently as ’09, and probably would have been this year were it not for Chris Paul’s injuries. They’re in a warm weather city and one of the few NBA franchises with a distinct home court advantage via the Bourbon Street hangover factor.
And yet, while the Hornets have already interviewed several candidates — Avery Johnson, Mike Fratello, Mark Jackson, Tom Thibodeau, Monty Williams and Lawrence Frank — with plans to bring in Doug Collins and Tyrone Corbin as well, New Orleans doesn’t appear to be one of the “hot jobs” on the coaching carousel.
(If you ask me, Avery is the natural fit. He’s a New Orleans native who played his college ball at Southern. He’s a former NBA point guard with a fairly recent championship ring and strong character, so getting immediate respect from CP3 and Collison won’t be a problem. And his system is rooted in defense, something the Hornets need.)
Only two things could be standing in the way of the Hornets being able to hand-pick whatever coach they want: Money and job security. The penny-pinching and financial problems surrounding the franchise have been widely reported over the last couple years, so who knows what they’re offering the coaches they’re interviewing.
As far as job security, the Hornets don’t have the best track record. Last November they fired Byron Scott nine games into the season, despite an ’08 Coach of the Year on his resume and two straight playoff appearances, with one trip to the conference semifinals where they stretched the Spurs to seven games. If Scott could get the hook that soon after a slow start, why would any other coach believe he’s got a decent leash to work with?
The Hornets are in the process of being sold to billionaire Gary Chouest, which could take care of the two aforementioned problems. New owners generally want to make a splash, meaning they’ll pay a good coach what he’s worth, and if that coach is lucky, the new owner realizes this is a starting-over process and will have some patience.
Who do you think should be the Hornets’ next coach?
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May 11th, 2010 at 3:55 pm
ab_40 says:
Avery Johnson proven defensive coach. Who will have to losen his reign of the team with a pg like chris paul
May 11th, 2010 at 3:57 pm
Jayo says:
Looks like a job that Avery Johnson would fit into like a glove. But a new owner probably would want a bigger name who runs a more fan-appealing offense.
May 11th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
Bizz says:
Avery even has the accent to coach there, he’d by far be the best fit to coach the team.
May 11th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
dmitry of jersey says:
let’s be a little more reasonable here.
2 of the top 3 players on the roster play the same position- PG, and one of them is coming off knee surgery
emeka okafor is fuckin terrible and has an awful contract
mo pete and posey are too old, and stojakovic is too older
this team may not be good enough to make the playoffs in the east, much less contend in the west.
May 11th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
The Journeyman says:
Also I can’t comment on who I think would be a good fit,
I do know one huge fear has always been the Spurs + Mavs being in that division and being such a force.
Clearly it seems as tho that torch might be up for grabs and they don’t look so invincible.
So that job is sweet for the right coach who can buckle these guys down into playing tought ball.
May 11th, 2010 at 6:31 pm
Dan says:
Top 15? Really? More like top 5, possibly the best. Just look at his PER for the past few years and take a look at the mediocrity that makes up his teammates. Sure his PER fell off a little this year, but that can be attributed to injury.
As for the subject of the article, I agree with the above commenter that the team itself is too bad and too financially hamstrung to be a good place to coach.
May 11th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
sh!tfaced says:
So many vacant coaching spots that maybe even an almost forgotten former NBA head coach like Eric Musselman will be getting calls this offseason.
May 11th, 2010 at 10:28 pm
Chicagorilla says:
Nooooo, stop trying to give Avery away to N.O., they don’t desertve him! Avery or Byron or Doug Collins. Lets see what happens.
May 12th, 2010 at 2:46 am
jace says:
hornets may have the league’s top point guard… but it has nothing else really.. only reason they win games is because of cp3.. also, it feels like their important players are either not good enough or getting too old to say that they really have a chance at excelling.
so all in all… MAINLY because of cp3′s presence… there are higher expectations for this club than the others… but just as much risk due to the lack of talent.
May 12th, 2010 at 3:08 am
Mo says:
New Orleans doesn’t want Avery. At least I hope they don’t. Just because he’s a native doesn’t mean he needs to be the coach. And what makes you think none of these guys want to coach in N.O.? Because you haven’t read any quotes from them? Fratello for one said he’d love to talk to them. One thing for certain is when they choose they’d better choose right. I’ll bet no one thought Byron Scott’s ass would want to go to NOLA either did you? And keep Mark Jackson and Doug Collin’s asses away from NOLA as well.
May 12th, 2010 at 3:14 am
Mo says:
Damn! I didn’t realize it was Austin Burton writing this sh*t until after I posted my comment. If I knew it were him I wouldn’t have even read the article. The dude seems to have it in for CP3 and New Orleans. Don’t quite know what that’s about. And the truth is, Scott should’ve been fired after that 08-09 season. Had no business even being held onto to begin the 09-10 season. And he’s not the first coach to be COY and get fired not long after. But I guess only New Orleans would do something like that right? Not Toronto. Not Dallas. Only New Orleans. SMH.
May 12th, 2010 at 5:35 am
Austin Burton says:
I’m not saying Byron shouldn’t have been fired when he was, but the fact that he was let go so early into the season despite some very recent success might give future coaching candidates a little pause about signing up for the Hornets job.
May 12th, 2010 at 5:58 am
Badger says:
@Mo — “Fratello for one said he’d love to talk to them.”
I don’t think The Czar is one of the top coaching candidates AB was talking about. Of course Fratello would love to talk to the Hornets. Dude is old and desperate to get back into the game. He’ll talk to anybody willing to give him a shot.
May 12th, 2010 at 10:41 am
QQ says:
Why isn’t anyone picking Avery yet??
May 13th, 2010 at 3:37 am
chief youngblood says:
as the new orleans guy , the one who sees every game. let me shed some light on this.
emeka okafur is incredibly undersized at the 5 and not skilled enough offensively to transition to a more natural 4 , he and david west get abused on defense night in and night out . david west is a very steady hand for the new orleans hornets but has never really been off the negotiation table , one or the other , maybe both will be gone by next year .
the byron scott firing was a major positive turn for the new orleans hornets , we still live everyday with the scars of his julian wright mismanagement ( i mean this guy can’t even get up and down the floor without falling around or throwing the ball away ) and the same rookie fate was in store for thornton and collison if a change wasn’t made. Jeff Bower did a valiant job.
i’ve often wondered why the hornets aren’t more seriously considered as a real coaching opportunity , i mean how many teams have a legit franchise player to commit and count upon. i see the hornets as the number two job after the chicago bulls.
If new orleans takes the obvious route and takes avery johnson one of the two things will occur. 1. chris paul will get run out of town, or 2. avery johnson will.
it just won’t work , the hornets are a few moves away ( one of which finally dumping peja ) from becoming a very good up-tempo team , and a very good project for JEFF VAN GUNDY. thats right.
i am very anxious though , cause livin’ down here i can say the avery johnson choice is the favorite , but it’s just not the best if we can get jeff van down here in the swamp lets get him .