The Houston Rockets are reportedly insisting a ‘performance-based’ contract extension for head coach Mike D’Antoni, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Rockets and D’Antoni have been said to be working on a new contract, with the longtime NBA coach set to enter the final year of his original deal. Team owner Tilman Fertitta has previously said he wants to keep D’Antoni in Houston despite the team’s failure to beat the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the 2019 playoffs.
Interesting tidbit from Woj here on the Mike D’Antoni extension negotiations:
“I’m told that the Rockets were interested in more of a performance-based contract extension.” pic.twitter.com/30TQWFX4LZ
— Salman Ali (@SalmanAliNBA) May 30, 2019
It’s unclear what the “performance-based” contract signifies, as it can be said that all NBA coach extensions are pretty much performance-based. However, it could be assumed that the Rockets don’t want a long-term financial commitment with D’Antoni.
The 68-year-old coach recently said that he wants two or three seasons more to coach Houston. However, after the team’ second straight failure to get over the Warriors and reach the NBA Finals, the team seems to want more protection and assurance that they can get a new coach when needed.
It’s worth noting that rumors surfaced recently that general manager Daryl Morey wasn’t the one who wanted to keep D’Antoni. Furthermore, there are speculations that the team’s next top assistant could be groomed to replace D’Antoni.
The Rockets have plenty of decisions to make this offseason, and it seems more and more likely that the team will undergo a complete overhaul.
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