5 NBA coaches on the hot seat

Just Missing the Cut

Paul George’s injury and Lance Stephenson’s departure probably protects Frank Vogel from a continuation of the criticism he received down the stretch as the Pacers imploded over the second half of 2013-14. With the only two offensive creators of note absent from a team that already struggled offensively, this is already shaping up to be a lost year in Indy, and Larry Bird doesn’t seem the type to fire a coach mid-stream just to make a change.

Scott Brooks is never far from the top of “terrible coaches” list among passionate NBA fans, but he’s better than many think. Many of the Thunder’s problems in terms of lineups and offensive sets are as much to do with roster construction as coaching. Further, he seems to have the full backing of Kevin Durant which is a pretty big deal with Durant’s potential free agency on the horizon.

Mike Budenholzer and Dave Joerger have to be wary of organizational politics, which especially in Budenholzer’s case has already lead to a degree of internal uncertainty. Both of these coaches did reasonably well as rookies, and with better health to Al Horford and Marc Gasol respectively should leave them both safe.