NBA Season Preview: Picks and projections
By Staff
Who is the first coach to get fired this season?
John Buhler (@buhler118): If Jason Kidd opts to have mid-season surgery again, ba-bye!
Cody Williams (@TheSizzle20): Everything you hear about the Bulls leads me to say Fred Hoiberg.
Kevin Yeung (@KevinHFY): Doesn’t feel like there’s going to be a whole lot of coaching shake-up this season, I guess since literally half of the league has shuffled coaches since the start of last season. Fred Hoiberg wasn’t great last season, but even more than that, HAVEYOUSEENTHEBULLSROSTER, so he’s the easiest call here.
Rory Masterson (@rorymasterson): Though Fred Hoiberg seems to sit on a throne of fire, Alvin Gentry has to show vast improvement in New Orleans to get the most out of Anthony Davis as he enters his prime. Last year’s slew of injuries didn’t help, but Gentry did not respond encouragingly to the adversity and has only made the playoffs twice in a coaching career spanning parts of thirteen seasons.
Philip Rossman-Reich (@omagicdaily): There has been so much coaching turnover in the league the last two years, and it feels like so many teams are embracing long-term rebuilds. So giving up on a coach after two years seems unfair. I would put Alvin Gentry and Jason Kidd on full alert though if their teams struggle. Kidd’s team will struggle and the Bucks may not have the patience for it.
Chris Barnewall (@ChrisBarnewall): Every year we have a coach get fired ridiculously early, and it’s usually for a struggling team that was not expected to struggle — like the Houston Rockets last year. As such, my pick will be Alvin Gentry and the New Orleans Pelicans. They just fit the criteria. Doesn’t mean it will actually happen, but the seat there likely isn’t safe.
Daniel Rowell (@danieljrowell): Doc Rivers. It’s time to be real about the Los Angeles Clippers, they are not that great. They are a team that has had talented trio of players in Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, and Chris Paul that have repeatedly failed to make it to a Western Conference Championship series and the team did not get any better in the offseason. Doc Rivers has failed to build the right parts around them and I think as a GM / Head Coach he has been given a fair run (3 years?). I can see Doc either making moves or getting let go before Christmas if this team isn’t top three in the West.
Dan Israeli (@danisraeli): The coaching turnover from last year really thins the field of potential candidates. Most of the middling teams with something to prove (i.e., make playoffs) have new coaches. Fred Hoiberg, Alvin Gentry and Jason Kidd seem like the top three candidates. For a darkhorse candidate, how about the Heat’s Erik Spoelstra? His contract details are murky, but the Heat are expected to regress big time this year and it’s possible Spoelstra stays with the organization while stepping aside from head coaching duties.