Michael J. LeBrecht II/Getty ImagesDavid Blatt
A decorated coach oversees, Blatt spent one-and-a-half seasons at the helm of the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the job he held wasn't the same for which he'd applied. He joined the franchise in June 2014, less than a month before LeBron James returned to Northeast Ohio and transformed the team from a patient rebuilder into one instantly graded on the championship-or-bust scale.
Blatt was gone after 123 games—83 of them wins—and returned to Europe. He just coached Turkish team Darussafaka Istanbul to the EuroCup championship. But in a superstar-driven league, his inability to connect with James might be viewed by NBA front offices as a fatal flaw.
Mike Brown
Brown's first NBA head coaching gig offered the blessing and curse of overseeing LeBron. While Brown won an Eastern Conference championship and 66.3 percent of his games during his first tenure with the Cavaliers, it was never easy to tell how much of that success was his doing and how much was having James on the roster.
Brown has had two misfires since—he lasted only a season and five games with the Los Angeles Lakers and one campaign back with the Cavs—but has rebounded nicely on Steve Kerr's staff with the Golden State Warriors. Brown probably deserves another shot to the run the show, but his name lacks excitement.
Jerry Stackhouse
The only worrisome part of Stackhouse's track record is its lack of longevity. He only capped his playing career in 2013 and first joined an NBA coaching staff in 2015.
That said, his stock has been ascending ever since. During two seasons as head coach of the G League Raptors 905, Stackhouse has steered them to a pair of G League Finals appearances and one championship. He was named G League Coach of the Year in 2016-17, so it's possible a big league club could overlook this defense-minded coach's relatively short resume.
Frank Vogel
Vogel's first dismissal—from the Indiana Pacers in 2016—was a head-scratcher borne out of then-team president Larry Bird's desire for "a new voice." Vogel's most recent ouster—from the Orlando Magic in April—was much more predictable after his two-year run featured just 54 wins against 110 losses.
Granted, Vogel wasn't dealt the easiest hand, as the Magic were anxious to snap their post-Dwight Howard playoff drought but hadn't assembled a playoff-caliber team. Still, he's likely stained in the short term by coaching a club that didn't distinguish itself at either end and failed to elevate any of its young players to star levels.
Monty Williams
Williams has some interesting footnotes on his coaching resume, like leading New Orleans on its last playoff trip with Chris Paul and first postseason voyage with Anthony Davis. Williams also bookended his five-year tenure in the Big Easy with winning seasons, and after his firing in 2015, he landed on his feet first as an assistant in Oklahoma City and later as a front-office member in San Antonio.
League sources told Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times that Williams is one of the front-runners in Milwaukee. That would give him another transcendent talent to work with (Giannis Antetokounmpo), surely along with the expectation of doing more. Over five seasons in New Orleans, Williams only won 43.9 percent of his games and went 2-8 over his two playoff trips.
Jay Wright
Wright has captured two of the last three NCAA championships by coaching an NBA-friendly small-ball style and developing several players into big league prospects. All of that interests NBA executives, sources told NBC Sports' Kurt Helin.
The problem is an NBA leap would require leaving the Villanova Wildcats behind. And, for now at least, it doesn't sound like Wright is ready to go.
"The whole thing is, to take a new challenge you have to give up what you have," Wright told The Athletic's Dana O'Neil. "I don't want to give up what I have. Would I like to coach in the NBA? Yes. But I have to give this up in order to do that, and I don't see that happening."
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