NBA, Pistons fire Casey. Silas salutes the Rockets

The last day of the regular season brings with it, like every year, some changes on the NBA benches. So Sunday to pay the price of a season played with the Lottery as the only target were Dwane Casey, fired by the Pistons and Stephen Silas, to whom the Rockets have avoided extending the contract for another year. In the coming days, however, other benches could empty, starting with that of Chauncey Billups in Portland. The 65-year-old Casey certainly didn’t leave his mark in his five years in Detroit, finishing with 121 wins against 263 losses. The management is now crossing their fingers in the hope of winning the Lottery, which means taking Wembanyama home, and planning the future of a young and potentially interesting team. Among the various candidates for the Pistons bench, Mike Budenholzer’s assistant in Milwaukee stands out Charles Lee, one of the “predestined” young coaches in the NBA, and above all the former Detroit star Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt University coach with a past as an assistant in Toronto and Memphis. Change of direction also in Houston. In fact, the Texan club has decided not to make use of the “team option” on Stephen Silas’ fourth season as head coach who tried, without great success, to lead the post-Harden transition. Even the Rockets have thought exclusively of “tanking” this year and are now waiting for the Lottery on May 16th to understand if a new international superstar will be able to start his NBA career in Houston, as happened in 2002 to Yao Ming. For the post Silas, the leadership looks with interest at what will happen in Toronto.

NURSE TERMINAL

—

In fact, in Canada, the Nurse era seems to have come to an end, except for an unexpected run in the postseason, and the Raptors’ head coach would be in pole position on Houston’s notebook. He also risks Steve Clifford in Charlotte, even if the signals of the last week seem to indicate a possible confirmation of him, but it certainly becomes a situation to monitor. On the other hand, Jason Kidd could pay the bill for an absolutely disastrous second part of the season, after the Irving trade, with the Mavericks grappling with a decidedly complicated offseason in which they will also have to decide what kind of contract to offer the former Nets .