5 teams that should hire Rick Carlisle as next head coach right now
By John Buhler
Rick Carlisle will have plenty of suitors after resigning from the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday.
It is the end of an era, as former Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle resigned from his post on Thursday after 13 years on the job.
Carlisle led the Mavericks to the Western Conference Playoffs in nine of his 13 years in Dallas. He won two Southwest Division titles, as well as guiding the Mavericks to their first and only NBA championship in franchise history back in 2011. But after another year of postseason failure and mounting frustration, Carlisle walks away with so many coaching opportunities to choose from.
Of all the jobs that may be available to Carlisle this offseason, here are the five he should consider.
Rick Carlisle: 5 NBA teams that should hire him to be their head coach
142. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. Washington Wizards. 5. player. East. Southeast
The backcourt tandem of Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal could be appealing
With the Washington Wizards parting ways with former head coach Scott Brooks, this could be a sneaky-good job for a seasoned head coach like Carlisle to resurface with. Washington has two elite guards in Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. Given that this team has not won 50 games in a season since they the Bullets, this is not a pressure-packed situation at all in the nation’s capital.
The Wizards clawed and scratched their way into the NBA Playoffs after a challenging start to the year. Though there is a definite ceiling to coaching a Westbrook-led team, Carlisle is strong enough of a head coach to elevate the Wizards to maybe a top-five team in the East. Just getting to the Eastern Conference Finals would be a massive accomplishment for this team. The bar is very low.