5 NBA coaches most likely to be fired this season
By Kyle Neubeck
Kevin McHale — Houston Rockets
If the Rockets can’t maintain or improve upon last year’s first-round exit in the Western Conference playoffs, many will point fingers at GM Daryl Morey, who inexplicably lost swing-man Chandler Parsons in free agency after striking out with the headliners. However, given his wizardry in acquiring stars James Harden and Dwight Howard, his seat is probably safe. The same can’t be said for Kevin McHale, in the final year of his contract with Houston.
When you have players of Harden and Howard’s caliber, expectations are bound to rise even in a loaded West. In the first year of the starry partnership, hiccups were bound to happen and could even be excused as working out the kinks. Now, McHale and his Rockets have no such crutch to lean on. Losing to a team like the Blazers — a solid, ultimately unspectacular team — is not acceptable anymore.
Armed with max deals, the two mega-stars aren’t headed anywhere. But if things go south for Houston, McHale is likely to be on the chopping block.