Corey Brewer provides list of potential coaches for Rockets

Jason Kidd

Brewer first mentioned his former Dallas Mavericks teammate Jason Kidd, who he won the 2010-11 NBA title with. Kidd is one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, as made 10 All-Star appearances, six All-NBA teams, and nine All-Defensive teams.

Kidd posted averages of 12.6 points, 8.7 assists, and 6.3 rebounds per game during his 19-year playing career, and his 107 triple-doubles currently rank fourth all-time, behind only Oscar Robertson, Houston Rockets guard Russell Westbrook, and Magic Johnson. Brewer explained his reasoning behind citing Kidd as a good candidate for the Rockets.

“I like Jason Kidd. I think he can get the guys to respect him.”

As pointed out earlier, Kidd definitely has the basketball resume to command the respect of Harden, Westbrook, and the entire roster. The Rockets haven’t been linked to Kidd, and we haven’t heard his name attached to any of the coaching vacancies thus far.

Kidd began his coaching career with the Brooklyn Nets, where he starred for seven seasons, leading the Nets to consecutive NBA Finals appearances. During Kidd’s first season as the Nets coach, the Nets went 44-38, earning the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Nets faced the third-seeded Toronto Raptors in the first round and pulled off the upset, as former Houston Rockets guard Joe Johnson averaged 21.9 points on 39.1 percent from three. Kidd’s Nets advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals and faced the LeBron James-led Miami Heat, where they were simply outmatched, as they were eliminated within five games.

Kidd was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks at the end of his lone season as Brooklyn’s coach, amid reports that he tried to overthrow then Nets general manager Billy King, as he wanted to have a say so in the roster decisions.

In Milwaukee, Kidd was reunited with former Nets part owner Marc Lasry, who was a fan of the franchise great. The Bucks went 41-41 during Kidd’s first season with the Bucks, and were eliminated by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs.

The Bucks regressed during the 2015-16 season, as they went 33-49, and missed the playoffs altogether. The Bucks had their best season under Kidd during the 2016-17 season, as they went 42-40 and ranked ninth in points allowed per game.

Milwaukee was eliminated in the first round by the Toronto Raptors, and it went downhill for Kidd from that point on. The Bucks got off to a 23-22 start to the 2017-18 season, and Kidd was fired midway through the season.

Kidd deserves credit for the development of Giannis Antetokounmpo, as Giannis posted significant improvements year after year under Kidd, as outlined below.

• 2014-15-12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 49.1 percent field goal percentage
• 2015-16-16.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 50.6 percent field goal percentage
• 2016-17-22.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 52.1 percent field goal percentage
• 2017-18-26.9 points, 10 rebounds, 52.9 percent field goal percentage

Prior to the 2019-20 season, Kidd became the assistant coach for Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel, and there was a wide array of speculation that Kidd was the coach in waiting for the Lakers. The Lakers finished with the best record in the Western Conference during the season and are currently battling the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.

For that reason, the Rockets may have to wait awhile if they do in fact have interest in hiring Kidd.

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