After getting knocked out in embarrassing fashion in the 2019 Playoffs by the Golden State Warriors, the Houston Rockets still gave Mike D’Antoni an extension come off-season. It was seen as a final gasp for that elusive championship, or at least an encouraging playoff run.

With the team’s fate for the 2019-20 season still up in the air, though, reports are now circulating that Houston’s management is set at replacing D’Antoni – unless they win the title, probably:

Sam Amick of The Athletic kickstarted the rumour in The Brodie and The Beard podcast:

“Barring a championship, if they do save the season, I do not get the sense that Mike D’Antoni is going to be back … They’ve had a major divide in the contract negotiations. I’m always cautious when it comes to reporting … but the information that we’ve constantly heard is that that bridge, for the most part, has been burned, and now they’re just kind of mutually agreeing to make the best of the time they have together.”

Basing it off what Amick said, it feels like a championship won’t be enough to repair the bridge. It gets extra tough when contract negotiations are involved. Also, as Amick later stated in the show, a couple of candidates are already getting eyed heavily. That right there is could be an added dent to the strained relationship.

“Jeff Van Gundy’s name is the one that I had heard consistently as a very possible replacement for Mike … “Van Gundy and [Tom Thibodeau] being from the same tree, whatever happens next I think you are starting to get a sense of what might be prioritized – obviously defense first, discipline. Try to juxtapose that and reconcile that with James Harden, in particular, with Thibs or Van Gundy barking at him on the defensive side.”

Bringing in either of the two coaches to help improve the defense will be intriguing, particularly for the Rockets’ pair of superstars – James Harden has good hustle stats but he’s long been criticized for his lackadaisical effort on the defensive end, while Russell Westbook, though known to be one of the most intense players in the league, is also panned for his inconsistent defense.

Harden and Westbrook have both eclipsed 10 seasons in the NBA, and neither is yet to be selected in any All-Defensive teams.

Van Gundy and Thibodeau have previously coached the Rockets (2003-2007), and they are both regarded as two of the best defensive coaches in recent memory. They’ve also been side-by-side for the majority of their careers and their teams have ranked inside the top five in defense in every single full season that they were together – the four aforementioned seasons in Houston and the previous five with the New York Knicks (1996-2001).

Quick trivia: The solid tenure in New York included the magical run in 1998-99, where they helped stir the Knicks to a string of upset wins en route to a finals berth. It’s still the only team in NBA history to reach the finals as an eighth seed.

The Rockets are the 22nd-ranked defense in the league and use an undersized line-up courtesy of the management’s unique approach, so much so that no one in the main rotation is taller than 6’8. Should the hiring of JVG and/or Thibs push through, we can also expect a couple of trades and interesting free agent signings to happen.