It sounds inevitable, Rockets fans. Kevin McHale IS walking through that door.
Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski, who has been on top of this whole hiring process, has confirmed that Kevin McHale will get his third meeting with Les Alexander today in Miami.
McHale made a strong impression on Rockets GM Daryl Morey and his front-office staff in a second interview on Thursday in Chicago, and separated himself from Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Dwane Casey andBoston Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank.
Alexander will huddle with his front office soon thereafter the meeting, and will come to a final decision about whom to hire. The owner will make the ultimate decision on Rick Adelman’s replacement, but McHale will get the strongest endorsement of the basketball operations staff, sources said.
Casey is running a close second in the search, but sources said that Alexander loved his initial meeting with Frank, too.
Several factors will come into play when Houston makes an offer, including the next coach’s willingness to accept a short-term deal – possibly two years – and strong suggestions on an assistant coaching staff. The Rockets want their D-League affiliate coach, Chris Finch of Rio Grande Valley, to be part of the coaching staff. They see him as an eventual NBA head coach.
Sounds like they are only looking for a "stop gap" coach until Chris Finch is ready to take over. Something that is said to have driven Lawrence Frank and Mike Brown away.
I personally HATE this decision, as does most of Red Nation. It just smells of Daryl Morey going all Gary Kubiak and just hiring his buddy to do an important job. Sure, anything could happen between now and then, but at this point it sounds as if the job is McHale's to lose. I'm clinging to hope that he has a bad shooting night.
What do you guys think of Kevin McHale as the 12th Head Coach in Houston Rockets history?