Kevin McHale has been offered the Houston Rockets' head coach job, according to Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski. Houston Chronicle beat writer Jonathan Feigen has confirmed the story.
McHale, the Boston Celtics' legendary power forward and a longtime general manager for the Minnesota Timberwolves, has worked for Turner Sports for the past two years on NBA TV and TNT broadcasts. He has some pro head coaching experience, having twice stepped into the hot seat with the Timberwolves, after firing Flip Saunders in 2005 and Randy Wittman in 2009. Under McHale as coach, the Wolves went 39-55. In each case, the Wolves' performance improved under McHale.
Woj reports that while nothing is final, McHale and the Rockets want to get a deal done. Houston let Rick Adelman's contract expire at the end of the season. Reports suggested the Rockets wanted Adelman to agree to groom a successor if re-signed; Adelman declined.
Dwane Casey, a coach McHale hired and fired in Minnesota, and Lawrence Frank were considered finalists for the job with McHale. Casey is an assistant coach for the NBA Finals-bound Dallas Mavericks. Frank is the top assistant for the Boston Celtics.
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