Houston Rockets NBA Next Head Coach Odds

The Houston Rockets are at a serious crossroads, and need to hire a coach who will finally steer their rebuild in the right direction. With plenty of viable candidates, let's check out the club's next coach odds, and see who's the best fit.

The Houston Rockets had what can politely be called a failure to launch this season.

Houston bottomed out to a 22-60 record, with stagnant player development and reports of locker-room dysfunction running rampant as the losses piled up.

The Rockets were too committed to crappiness to pivot mid-season, but wasted no time canning Stephen Silas when it ended, prompting sportsbooks to offer next head coach odds for the embattled club.

The odds board is a who's-who of eligible bench bachelors, but strangely headlined by one who's still employed.

Let's take a look at the NBA odds contenders for the Rockets' coaching vacancy, and which one makes the most sense for Houston.

Houston Rockets next coach odds

Odds as of April 13, 2023.

Does Houston have a problem?

The Rockets are now entering their fourth year of a rebuild that, so far, hasn't built much of anything.

Houston's cracks at the draft have yielded mixed results, after a very up-and-down rookie season from Jabari Smith Jr., and a frustrating lack of development from Jalen Green in his sophomore campaign. While both still project as potential stars if all breaks right, the returns relative to other options have to leave Rockets fans wanting. 

The closest thing the Rockets have to a core piece is Turk Alperen Sengun, who showed serious flashes as a dynamic playmaking center in 2022-23's second half. But Houston still sorely needs a true point guard, naively forcing the concept of Kevin Porter Jr. as a lead ballhandler on us.

While the Rockets have only one salary on the payroll above $10 million next year (Porter's $18.2 million tab), they remain relatively cap-screwed, still on the hook for John Wall's horrifying contract for one more season (also, they're somehow still paying Derrick Favors?), with just $13 million and change of cap space to maneuver.

But, there's hope.

The Rockets are tied for the best possible odds of landing French phenom Victor Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft (14%, in all its glory), and can reap the benefits of a very strong class even if they miss out on the No. 1 pick.

There's also that persistent rumor involving a former Rockets star with a strong affinity for the city's gentleman's clubs, who could be forcing his way back to town.

And while the team's youngsters showed painfully little progress or cohesion in 2022-23, the hope is that a shift in organizational culture for next season will provide a better environment to foster growth. 

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Houston Rockets next coach favorites

Nick Nurse (+200)

Nurse is a curious choice atop this list, given that he's technically still employed by the Toronto Raptors. However, the Raps' disappointing flameout this season has many pundits suspecting that Nurse's days in The 6 are numbered, especially given the fact that Toronto has a heavily under-achieving roster and that Masai Ujiri has never been afraid to pull the trigger on a big move (okay, maybe not "never").

Despite this season's disappointment, Nurse is a title winner who's shown proficiency in both creative lineups schemes and player development. A rebuilding team could do far worse in a coach.

Kenny Atkinson (+200)

Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson is another popular name in next coach discussions, himself a respected bench boss. 

Atkinson presided over an era of surprise development in Brooklyn, where he led scrappy, starless Nets squads from 2016-2020, rescuing the franchise from the crippling Pierce-Garnett trade that left its rebuild heavily handcuffed. 

Given his track record with young talent and dumpster-fire organizations, Atkinson, at a glance, seems like a great fit for the Rockets.

Frank Vogel (+300)

A 2020 NBA champion, Vogel took the fall for the Lakers' idiotic roster moves, and finds himself seeking employment in a fairly limited job pool. 

Despite flameouts in all his coaching stops, Vogel's had undeniable success when not screwed by his own front office's incompetence, and he has exactly the kind of defense-first mindset that could benefit a Rockets roster that posted a 29th-ranked 118.6 D-rating this season.

Ime Udoka (+400)

Udoka finds himself here rather anomalously, as the consensus Coach of the Year odds leader heading into 2022-23.

Of course, weeks before the season began, he was suspended by the Celtics for being unable to behave himself, and once promoted assistant Joe Mazzulla proved himself to be very much qualified for the role, Boston gave him the gig.

Udoka was then linked to the Nets when Steve Nash's campaign went up in flames, but Kyrie Irving decided to support public bigotry at an inopportune time, prompting Brooklyn to abandon the PR optics of hiring a rival's suspended adulterous coach. 

Scott Brooks (+900)

Somehow, Brooks is near the top of this list, despite having never really done anything impressive as an NBA coach. 

Sure, he's a "veteran" who brings "experience," but Brooks' track record as a coach is largely underwhelming, and heavily buoyed by the would-be Thunder dynasty that succeeded more because of its transcendent young talent than Brooks' painfully unimaginative offensive sets.

With plenty of young assistants ready to peel off a successful coaching tree, and far-more-proven veterans also free agents, hiring Brooks would be a pure punt for Houston. 

Who should the Rockets hire? 

While several intriguing names litter the top of this odds board, one of them stands head-and-shoulders above the rest. 

Twelve months ago, Udoka was in the midst of steering one of the most dramatic midseason turnarounds in NBA history, landing his team in the Finals. 

That he's unemployed today has nothing to do with his coaching ability — and is likely an experience he's learned from after having his name and personal business dragged through the mud in a very public manner.

He's a brilliant basketball tactician, forged not only as a longtime NBA vet, but years of baking in arguably the best coaching oven on Earth under the Spurs' Gregg Popovich. He's also, by all accounts, heavily respected by his players and brings the kind of pedigree needed to evoke change in the Rockets' playpen of a locker room. 

Again, the man was widely considered for the league's top coaching honor heading into last season. He's a cut above the rest of the heap here.