Several Teams Promoting Interim Head Coaches, Forgoing Searches

It’s not uncommon for several NBA teams to be on the lookout for new head coaches each spring. During the 2022 offseason, four clubs hired new coaches; that number increased to six in 2023 and was six again in 2024.

It looked like that would trend would continue in 2025. The Kings made a coaching change in December 2024, with the Grizzlies and Nuggets following suit in March and April, respectively. The Suns fired Mike Budenholzer once their season ended and longtime Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich stepped down from his position for health reasons.

Despite the fact that five teams have parted ways with their head coaches in the past four-and-a-half months, only one of those clubs is currently conducting a head coaching search.

After finishing the season with a 27-24 under interim head coach Doug Christie, who reportedly had support from team owner Vivek Ranadive, the Kings opted to name Christie the permanent replacement for Mike Brown, finalizing a new multiyear contract agreement with him earlier this week.

The Grizzlies took the same path with Taylor Jenkins‘ in-season replacement, Tuomas Iisalo, removing his interim tag this week and announcing that he would be keeping the job.

In San Antonio, Mitch Johnson was technically the acting head coach and didn’t hold the interim title — that’s really just a technicality that reflects the fact that Popovich was still hoping to return at some point. But when Popovich decided to call it a career, the Spurs wasted no time confirming that Johnson would remain in the role and they wouldn’t be interviewing anyone else.

The Nuggets are still alive in the playoffs, so it’s possible – especially if they lose Game 7 of their first-round series to the Clippers on Saturday – that they could launch a full-fledged coaching search, with interim coach David Adelman receiving consideration as part of that search. But Adelman is widely respected within the organization, including by stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, so there’s a chance that Denver just sticks with him — especially if he leads the team to at least the second round of the postseason.

It’s not out of the question that other teams could make coaching changes this spring. However, most teams whose seasons are over have had time to think about it and probably would have made their move by now if they planned to do so. Willie Green of the Pelicans is one coach to monitor from this group, though one recent report said the “prevailing expectation” is that he’ll be retained by new head of basketball operations Joe Dumars.

While there has been no indication that a change is in the cards for either the Bucks or Hawks, Doc Rivers is another head coach worth keeping an eye on, as is Quin Snyder, who received a strong endorsement from general manager Landry Fields last month, only for Fields to be fired by Atlanta a few days later.

As for the teams still alive in the postseason, it seems relatively safe to assume that Kenny Atkinson, Joe Mazzulla, Rick Carlisle, Mark Daigneault, Chris Finch, Tyronn Lue, Ime Udoka, and Steve Kerr aren’t going anywhere unless they choose to.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau is perhaps the most at risk in this group, but he likely relieved some of the pressure he was facing by getting past Detroit in the first round. New York will enter the conference semifinals against Boston as a significant underdog, so unless the Knicks are embarrassed in that series, a coaching change may not be in their plans.

If no other teams replace their coaches this spring, it would leave the Suns in position to take their time with their own search, knowing they aren’t in danger of having their top choice poached by a rival team. Reports have already indicated that Phoenix plans to be patient as it seeks its fourth head coach in four seasons — the team is expected to identify 14 or 15 candidates, then pare that list down to a smaller group of finalists.

While there haven’t been any reports yet about candidates who have secured meetings or interviews with the Suns, the following names have been linked to the team’s coaching vacancy by various reporters:

• Cavaliers assistants Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott
• Mavericks assistants Sean Sweeney and Jared Dudley
• Rockets assistants Royal Ivey and Ben Sullivan
• Pelicans assistant James Borrego
• Thunder assistant Dave Bliss
• Heat assistant Chris Quinn
• Former Kings coach Mike Brown
• The Suns’ own assistant David Fizdale
• Former Suns assistant (and current BYU head coach) Kevin Young