Rockets' Morey: Re-signing D'Antoni 'probably No. 1' priority
Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni entered the season with an expiring contract and no assurance he would remain with the club beyond 2019-20. Now, general manager Daryl Morey believes re-signing the 69-year-old will be the organization's top focus this offseason.
"It's probably No. 1. That's a fair way to put it," Morey told Mark Medina of USA Today Sports. "We have all our key players signed. I think Mike coming back is super important."
Talks between D'Antoni and the team's front office broke down in May 2019 as the franchise reportedly refused to offer more than a one-year, incentive-laden extension. Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta said in June that he hoped D'Antoni would return but added that he would entrust Morey with the decision on the head coach's future. However, it's unclear if Houston will offer something akin to the three-year term D'Antoni was reportedly seeking.
D'Antoni has spent four seasons behind the Rockets' bench and has gone 217-101 in the regular season during that span. He has also made the playoffs every year and came within one game of the NBA Finals in 2018.
With Houston currently holding a 1-0 series lead over the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers in the conference semifinals, D'Antoni insists he isn't thinking about his contract status.
"The moment is too big to get distracted. We've been through a lot. I've been through a lot in all kinds of different ways," he told Medina. "Everybody has something to fight for, but it's a little bit bigger than that.
"It's what we've done all year together and trying to build a team and trying to get to where we want to get at. That supersedes everything."