The potential next domino after fired former Boston Celtics head coach joins Rockets
After the hiring of fired former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, the Rockets could have a major domino ready to fall.
Rockets and Udoka moved fairly quickly toward each other after initial meeting, sources tell ESPN. Udoka and GM Rafael Stone kept talking on job. Both sides had some strong options in the marketplace but a deal got done in the last 24 hours to land Udoka with the Rockets. Young… https://t.co/fRPG3Wwy2Y
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 24, 2023
With young stars in the making in Jalen Green and Jabari Smith and a top lottery pick during the upcoming 2023 NBA draft, Houston hiring a head coach coming off of an Eastern Conference championship signals a clear shift from rebuilding to contending.
The hiring of former Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka signals a likely James Harden signing
The next step for the Rockets after bringing aboard Udoka following his suspension and ultimate ouster from the Boston Celtics organization due to an inappropriate relationship with a female staffer will be signing James Harden.
As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski pointed out, Houston is “in play” for The Beard.
“James Harden’s future is very unclear in Philadelphia,” Wojnarowski prefaced on The Woj Pod before saying, “Houston is very much in play for him. And I think a lot may depend on [whether] they make a run and win, and it’s easy to pay him long-term big money, or he just wants to be in Houston. Win or lose he goes, or it’s dependent on the team’s success.”
That play was only strengthened by not only Udoka’s Houston hiring, but also the uncertain status of Joel Embiid during the postseason. With a second-round playoff series looming against the Boston Celtics, a banged-up 76ers squad is a sweep candidate — and should that or anything short of a conference finals appearance happen, it’s very likely Harden will head back to a franchise that gave him everything he wanted and play for a coach he knows well from their shared days in Brooklyn.