5 teams that should hire Rick Carlisle as next head coach right now
By John Buhler
69. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. West. Southwest. New Orleans Pelicans. 4. player
Staying in the same division to now coach Zion Williamson could be so much fun
The Southwest Division has three young superstars in it. Carlisle coached one in his last two years in Dallas with Luka Doncic. While coaching Ja Morant with the Memphis Grizzlies would be awesome, Taylor Jenkins has to be excited about his third year with the team in 2021-22. And that leaves Zion Williamson in desperate need of a great head coach with the New Orleans Pelicans…
If Carlisle is of the belief that Williamson is the next Charles Barkley or pre-lockout Shawn Kemp, he might want to jump at this. We have seen David Griffin build a championship team when he worked with the Cleveland Cavaliers. New Orleans has next to no basketball history, but few would know what Williamson can become in the NBA than a former head coach in the division.
Northwest. player. 34. Pick Analysis. 3. Scouting Report. West. Portland Trail Blazers
You are not going to find a better point guard to go coach than Damian Lillard
While the ceiling is definite in Washington with Beal and Westbrook and there is a ton of variance in New Orleans with Williamson, you know what you are going to get if you go take the Portland Trail Blazers job. Carlisle would inherit a perennial All-NBA point guard in Damian Lillard in a basketball-crazy town that is in dire need of a major defensive overhaul and playoff consistency.
Though Portland may never win an NBA Finals with Lillard as their best player, he is certainly good enough to be his generation’s version of Clyde Drexler by getting them to the Finals. We have not seen an NBA MVP season out of Lillard just yet. Carlisle could be the head coach that takes Lillard from being a top-10 player in the league and turning him into the NBA’s best player for a season.