Knicks, Rockets & Pacers Coaching Odds

The NBA coaching carousel took another turn last week, as the old adage “coaches are hired to be fired” proved to be true once again. As of May 9, the Houston Rockets, Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks were in the market for head coaches, which has kept oddsmakers busy.

At Sportsbook, Jeff Van Gundy is the favorite to be the next bench boss for the Rockets. Van Gundy is certainly a likely candidate, having coached in Houston from 2003-2007 before transitioning to a broadcast career for ESPN. Van Gundy has not shied away from his desire to return to the bench, but the jury is still out on if he will in fact leave Bristol to do so.

Ex-Indiana Pacers coach Frank Vogel (+225), Mike D’Antoni (+550), Kenny Smith (+850), Sam Cassell (+1100) and Jeff Hornacek (+1100) are the next likeliest options for the Rockets.

Smith, a former standout point guard who won two NBA championships with the franchise, is the most interesting option on the list. Smith has no coaching experience, but we’ve come to learn in the modern NBA that experience is not always a prerequisite in this area.

Many pundits around the Association have criticized Indiana team president Larry Bird for his handling of the Vogel situation, but Bird did not back down from his belief that the coach would not have been able to take his squad over the hump if Vogel's contract was extended.

Mark Jackson and Mike D’Antonio are +300 favorites to win the job, with ex-Denver Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw (+400), Jeff Hornacek (+750) and Vinny Del Negro (+850) also in the running according to the book.

New York Knicks fans may want to make sure they're sitting down for this one. Kurt Rambis is heavy -200 chalk to be the team’s head coach at the start of the 2016-07 campaign, and Frank Vogel (+200), David Blatt (+500) and Mark Jackson (+600) are also available to wager on.

Rambis stepped into the role of interim coach after the mid-season firing of Derek Fisher and produced some underwhelming results. Under Rambis, the Knicks went 9-19 to end the season, and it became quite clear the bigger issue in the Big Apple wasn’t the man on the sidelines. In his head coaching career between the Lakers, Timberwolves and Knicks, Rambis-led teams are a combined 65-164.