With another regular season in the books, multiple teams around the NBA are making head coaching changes in advance of the 2023/24 campaign.
In the space below, we’ll provide regular updates on the head coaching searches for each club that has yet to give anyone the permanent title. Some of these searches could extend well into the offseason, so be sure to check back often for the latest updates.
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Updated 6-10-23 (7:49pm CT)
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Detroit Pistons
- New coach:
- Monty Williams (story)
- Previous coach:
- Dwane Casey (transitioning to front office)
- Other finalists:
- Also interviewed/considered:
- Other rumored candidates/targets:
- Bulls assistant Josh Longstaff (story)
- Former Celtics coach Ime Udoka (hired by Rockets)
The Pistons went just 121-263 (.315) in five years with Casey at the helm, but his transition to a front office role was framed as his decision rather than the team’s. Casey, 66 in April, may prefer a less hands-on position as he nears retirement age.
Following Casey’s move to an executive role, the Pistons reportedly narrowed their coaching search to Ollie, Collins, and Lee, then didn’t make a decision for weeks. During that time, Williams was let go by the Suns and it became clear that he immediately moved to the top of Detroit’s wish list, supplanting the other three finalists.
Williams rebuffed the Pistons’ initial advances, indicating that he planned to take a year off, but he ultimately relented and agreed to a record-setting six-year, $78.5MM contract to become the Pistons’ new head coach.
After Casey guided the Pistons through the most challenging years of their rebuild, Williams will be tasked with turning the roster from a collection of promising young pieces into a team capable of making it back to the postseason.
Houston Rockets
- New coach:
- Ime Udoka (story)
- Previous coach:
- Stephen Silas (team option declined)
- Also interviewed/considered:
- Other rumored candidates/targets:
Silas signed up to coach a team led by veteran stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook, but both players were gone 10 games into his first season in Houston. The first-time head coach ended up presiding over a full-scale rebuild — no NBA team posted a worse record during Silas’ three years with the franchise than the Rockets’ 59-177 mark.
After some reports indicated that Houston would be seeking a more experienced candidate this time around, the Rockets seriously considered veteran head coaches like Vogel and Borrego before landing on Udoka, who led the Celtics to the NBA Finals in his first and only season as an NBA head coach in 2021/22.
Udoka’s tenure with Boston ended abruptly after he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate within the organization. The Rockets presumably did their due diligence on that incident and determined they were comfortable with hiring Udoka, whose on-court résumé is strong. He reportedly signed a four-year, $28.5MM contract and will be tasked with turning a raw Rockets team made up of promising young pieces into a more coherent whole capable of making the playoffs.
Milwaukee Bucks
- New coach:
- Adrian Griffin (story)
- Previous coach:
- Mike Budenholzer (dismissed)
- Other finalists:
- Also interviewed/considered:
- Former Hornets coach James Borrego (story)
- Bucks assistant Charles Lee (story)
- Trail Blazers assistant Scott Brooks (story)
- Former Warriors coach Mark Jackson (story)
- Heat assistant Chris Quinn (story)
- Suns assistant Kevin Young (story)
- University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson (story)
- Wizards assistant Joseph Blair (story)
- Paris Basketball coach Will Weaver (story)
- Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel (story)
- Other rumored candidates/targets:
The NBA is a “what have you done for me lately?” sort of league, so the fact that Budenholzer led the Bucks to a title in 2021 and to the NBA’s best regular season record in 2022/23 was essentially negated by the team’s embarrassing first-round playoff exit this spring. As a result, Milwaukee opted to move on from the veteran head coach, who still had two years left on his contract.
Following an extensive search, the Bucks narrowed their options to three finalists: Griffin, Atkinson, and Nurse. Two of those candidates had prior head coaching experience, but Milwaukee opted to hire the one that didn’t, landing on Griffin, a veteran assistant who has worked for five teams over the last 15 years. He’s reportedly receiving a multiyear deal worth about $4MM annually.
This Bucks roster, headed by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, still looks capable of contending for championships. The organization – including Antetokounmpo, who gave Griffin his endorsement – is rolling the dice on a first-time NBA head coach helping the team once again reach those heights.
Philadelphia 76ers
- New coach:
- Nick Nurse (story)
- Previous coach:
- Doc Rivers (dismissed)
- Doc Rivers (dismissed)
- Also interviewed/considered:
- Former Lakers coach Frank Vogel (story)
- Other rumored candidates/targets:
The Sixers posted an impressive 154-82 (.653) regular season record during Rivers’ three years in Philadelphia, but the team’s inability to make a deep playoff run reflected poorly on the veteran coach, who had similar issues in Los Angeles with the Clippers. The 76ers were eliminated in the second round in three consecutive years, losing home games to end their season in 2021 and 2022 and then getting blown out in a Game 7 in 2023.
With Joel Embiid locked up for years to come, the Sixers have a franchise player to build around, but they could make some significant changes around Embiid this offseason, with James Harden a candidate to depart in free agency and Tobias Harris likely to end up back on the trade block.
Nurse, who led the division-rival Raptors to a championship in his first year as head coach in 2018/19, will be tasked with getting Embiid to the conference finals (at least) for the first time in his career. Nurse was reportedly a finalist for the head coaching jobs in Milwaukee and Phoenix before agreeing to join the Sixers.
Phoenix Suns
- New coach:
- Frank Vogel (story)
- Previous coach:
- Monty Williams (dismissed)
- Monty Williams (dismissed)
- Other finalists:
- Former Sixers coach Doc Rivers (story)
- Suns assistant Kevin Young (story)
- Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez (story)
- Former Raptors coach Nick Nurse (hired by Sixers)
- Also interviewed/considered:
- Other rumored candidates/targets:
- Clippers coach Tyronn Lue (story)
Williams helped reshape the culture in Phoenix over the last several seasons, leading the Suns to the NBA Finals in 2021 and earning Coach of the Year honors in 2022. However, after suffering embarrassing blowout home losses to end their playoff runs in both 2022 and 2023, the Suns decided to make a change.
Phoenix initially narrowed its search to five finalists before choosing Vogel, who has won a title and will be coaching his fourth NBA team. Given his experience and his résumé, Vogel should command the respect of veteran stars like Kevin Durant and Devin Booker as he tries to get the team over the hump in 2023/24 and beyond.
Vogel’s deal with the Suns will reportedly be worth $31MM over five years.
Toronto Raptors
- New coach:
- Darko Rajakovic (story)
- Previous coach:
- Nick Nurse (dismissed)
- Other finalists:
- Also interviewed/considered:
- Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez (story)
- Suns assistant Kevin Young (story)
- Spurs assistant Mitch Johnson (story)
- Heat assistant Chris Quinn (story)
- Nuggets assistant David Adelman (story)
- ESPN analyst JJ Redick (story)
- Former Nets coach Steve Nash (story)
- Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin (hired by Bucks)
- Other rumored candidates/targets:
- Barcelona coach Sarunas Jasikevicius (story)
- Suns assistant Patrick Mutombo (story)
- Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse (story)
- Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon (story)
- Former Suns coach Monty Williams (hired by Pistons)
- Former Celtics coach Ime Udoka (hired by Rockets)
Head coach Nick Nurse told reporters on March 31 that he would take some time after the season to evaluate his future. The Raptors took the same approach and eventually announced nine days after their season ended that they were relieving Nurse of his duties.
Toronto exercised extreme patience with its head coaching search and was the last team to make a decision this spring — word of Nurse’s dismissal broke on April 21, while Rajakovic was reported as the team’s choice of replacement on June 10, over a month-and-a-half later.
Nurse won a championship and a Coach of the Year award in separate seasons during his five-year stint as the Raptors’ head coach, so Rajakovic has big shoes to fill as a first-time NBA head coach. His résumé includes head coaching stints in Europe and in the G League, along with a decade as an NBA assistant, so he certainly seems qualified for his new role.
Can’t we get Ole Nick Van Exel a HC interview