This makes two coaches let go in one day, although neither one was a surprise.
The Clippers have let go of interim coach Kim Hughes. He had a raw deal, taking over for Mike Dunleavy, trying to change to a more open system of play when he did not have the ball handlers through the lineup to do it. Plus, right about when he took over and the Clippers had fallen out of playoff contention, the numerous free agent players on the Clippers started playing for themselves and not the team.
Here’s some comments from the official release
“We appreciate Kim’s contributions during his time here especially over the last two and a half months,” stated Clippers’ President Andy Roeser. “But we also know that our responsibility is to do what is in the organization’s immediate best interests for its ability to move forward. This season was an overall disappointment and certainly fell short of both our expectations and what should rightly have been anticipated by our fans. We will move deliberately and productively to regain the successful competitive position we had all hoped for when this past season began.”
“We think our situation is extremely attractive, both from the standpoint of the talented and popular core of players who are already under contract, as well as the salary cap flexibility we have created for this summer,” Roeser continued. “Los Angeles is a great city, we have total support from our ownership, our facilities are state of the art and we are blessed with a tremendous fan base.”
There have been rumors that part of the Clippers offer to any super-big-name free agents would be the chance to name their own coach.
The firing of Hughes was necessary. The Clippers need an identity as a team, they need both a coach and a quality free agent or two to deliver on that. Even Hughes understood that in a post-game comment a couple days ago:
“We need to declare who our leader is, determine that and we need to get one free agent at least I like our guys. I think this a great potential, great future for next year.”
Is Dallas assistant Dwane Casey that coach? He has emerged as top candidate for the job, according to several reports. He came in a close second in recent hirings in Oklahoma City and Philadelphia. However, he may not be available for some time as Dallas makes a playoff run.
