How Stephen Silas will change the Rockets offense

Houston Rockets’ new head coach, Stephen Silas, will bring a new offensive ideology to town. Here are some changes to look out for.

The Houston Rockets have endured an offseason of immense change. They lost their general manager of the past 13 years, Daryl Morey, and head coach of the past five, Mike D’Antoni.

In their stead the Rockets promoted Rafael Stone to the general manager position, who has acquitted himself excellently to the job and brought in Stephen Silas, from the Dallas Mavericks, to take over the reins as head coach.

Silas has spent the past 20 years as an assistant after beginning his career as the league’s youngest assistant at 27-years-old. Through his journey, he had the good fortune to work with his father, former NBA head coach Paul Silas, but also with Don Nelson and, most recently, Rick Carlisle.

It’s what the Mavericks’ offense achieved last season that made Silas such an appealing candidate. Led by second-year dynamo Luka Doncic, the Mavericks had one of the most efficient offenses in league history and Silas is intent on bringing some of that magic to Houston.

The Mavericks paced the league last year in offensive rating. Their 116.7 points per 100 possessions were 2.8 points better than the 2nd place Los Angeles Clippers. The difference between the Mavericks and the Clippers was the same as the difference between the Clippers in 2nd and the Toronto Raptors in 14th.

The Rockets were no slouches on offense either. They finished with the 6th best offensive rating, but how they got there was dramatically different than the Mavericks. The Rockets offense will look different under Stephen Silas, here’s what to expect from the first-year head coach.

Next: What can the Mavericks offense tell us about the Rockets?