NBA Rumors: 5 coaches to replace Dwane Casey in Toronto

The toxicity emanating from the Houston Rockets after their massively disappointing 2015-16 NBA season may have made former head coach Kevin McHale essentially un-hirable in this coaching carousel cycle.

However, McHale did lead the 2014-15 Rockets to an improbable No. 2 seed in the West and a surprising trip to the 2015 Western Conference Finals. While the Rockets were simply no match for the eventual champion Golden State Warriors, just being able to overcome a 20+ point deficit in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals versus the Los Angeles Clippers down 3-1 will have somebody’s ear in potentially bringing McHale aboard.

In Houston, McHale’s Rockets were at their best when he was putting a lot of thought in unique lineup construction. His Rockets could handle virtually any opposing lineup put in their way with the lone exception of Golden State’s small ball line up of death (Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Andre Iguodala, Draymond Green).

Let’s not forget that McHale is a Basketball Hall of Famer and one of the most skilled offensive big man to have played the game in the last 30 years. Toronto has two interesting pieces in their front court in Jonas Valanciunas and Bismack Biyombo. Valanciunas could become an All-Star in a year or two and Biyombo became a near-max player with his terrific performances in the 2016 Eastern Conference Playoffs.

Toronto may be a very guard centric team behind point guard Kyle Lowry and shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, but McHale has both the experience and the coaching chops to both get the most out of his front court and feature creative lineups that could challenge Cleveland in the East in 2016-17.

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