We’ve got some breaking news out of the NBA where the rockets have signed head coach Udoka to a long term extension. That’s according to ESPN. Udoka led the rockets to their first 50 win season since 2019, entering the playoffs as the two seed in the West. He also led the franchise to its first postseason appearance since 2020. He’ll now be in Houston for the foreseeable future as one of the highest paid coaches in the league.
That is, according to ESPN. All right, back here on HQ, Udoka is going to be sticking around in Houston for quite some time. A contract extension we’re here with John Gonzalez and Brad Barkan here to break it all down.
Brad, not surprising seeing the season that we saw with them last year. I think we were expecting them to be satisfied with Udoka and want him to stay for a little bit.
This is an absolute no brainer. I think we all looked at our monitors when we saw the breaking news come up. Say, did the Knicks get him? Oh my gosh, can you imagine? Well, I can imagine.
They’ve been trying to get everybody’s coach. But this is a no brainer for Houston.
I’ve talked about this a lot on on these shows. And I think the simple truth is there’s about I don’t know, put a number on it. Five six coaches in the NBA that truly, truly swing outcomes.
And Madoka is one of them. Okay. We see it all the time where teams hire new coaches. They keep roughly the same personnel and they think it’s going to change everything. The Knicks might be one of these teams this summer and it doesn’t change.
It doesn’t change. Udoka changes your team. He changes it at fundamental core principles defensively. Mindset. Sharing the ball, playing the right way.
These guys are bought in. These guys play the right way. They were tough against Golden State in the opening round. They’ve got an emerging star in Armon Thompson. They got to decide to do what what they want to do with Jalen Green.
But all of this depth all of these assets to play with they are set.
And they knew it. They could not. There’s no way they could let Udoka, who’s at the core of all of this, let him go. He’s one of the 5 or 6 coaches to me in the league that truly, truly swings the needle.
And you know, you mentioned it this this team played Golden State very tough. It’s a young squad. And during that series we talked a lot about experience right. And all of that. So John what are your expectations for this team knowing that they do have some some playoff experience.
And it’s a young core here. I know there’s you know, different reports out there of some superstars they might be going after. So who knows.
But with that a little bit of experience in the playoffs under their belt and knowing that you May Udoka is going to be back for quite some time, what do you expect this Houston team to look like next season and beyond that potentially. Yeah I mean they’re ahead of the curve, right?
It’s what Brad said earlier about being in the mix. They’re in the mix and they’re in the mix a lot sooner than I thought they were going to be. They finished with the second seed last year. I was an early adopter on the Houston Rockets. Last year I was on them.
I thought that they could make maybe make the playoffs. They didn’t. They were just outside this year. I had them making the playoffs. I certainly didn’t have them as the number two overall seed.
And they’re doing it right now. Jacqueline without like a definitive number one superstar. They’ve got a lot of really nice pieces. Alperen Sengun is fantastic. Brad mentioned a guy who I’m huge on Iman Thompson who I think the sky is the limit with that kid, especially if he figures out how to shoot the ball.
Jalen green, he’s sort of like intermittently amazing and then his offense goes away. But you go up and down that roster. They’ve got so many really good rotation pieces. Tari Eason coming off the bench. Cam Whitmore up and down the lineup Fred VanVleet who just is staying around.
And Dillon Brooks that what they’ve done with that team. And not having the superstar that you’re talking about them potentially hunting. Maybe they’re in the mix for K.D. If I’m Rafael Stone.
And now that you’ve locked up Madoka, I’m kicking the tires on this thing as is for another half season up to the trade deadline. I’m leaving it alone. I want to see you’re not going to go out and get Katie. I would wait because look at what Oklahoma City has done. I think of Houston as sort of like a poor man’s mini version of Oklahoma City, where they’ve built it through their own organization without really having to go outside, with the exception of Fred VanVleet.
And they’re onto something really special here. Just wait a little bit. They’re young, they’re talented, they’re good defensively. I’d wait and see what it looks like with another year under their belt and then decide at the trade deadline. Brad what do you think?
Do you think they should just kind of ride the wave as the team is constructed right now? Or would you kind of go out and try for a K.D. Or I don’t know about, you know, if they can? Yeah, that’d be different.
I’m impatient by nature. You know, I think that, you know, people always talk about, like, the high school years, like it can’t be the peak, but like, all the years of your life are pretty even, like sometimes the best years are like the early years, like, everyone thinks these young teams, like the future is always going to be the best part.
I don’t know, some. Maybe right now is the time to strike. Maybe.
Maybe the time. If you got Kevin Durant, I wouldn’t want to face a rockets team with Kevin Durant and that defense and that coaching. So this might be their best time. I don’t I don’t necessarily always think the best, but I do hear what John’s saying in terms of don’t get don’t get to because they do have something really simmering here that is pretty hard to come about in the NBA.
And they’ve done it in a way that that could be sustainable.
Yeah, and you have to think if you’re going to go get K.D. Or Giannis, you’re going to have to give up a lot of those pieces that are already starting to mesh together to go get a big superstar like that. Brad John, we certainly appreciate it. Joining us for that breaking news here where Houston has signed Udoka to a long term extension.
You can hear more from from John on Beyond the Arc. You can listen.
