3 NBA coaches who could be on the hot seat in the 2021-22 NBA season

Modified Nov 08, 2022 11:35 GMT

Los Angeles Clippers v Los Angeles Lakers

There was a massive turnover of NBA coaches this past offseason. Eight teams decided that change was needed for various reasons: the Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic, Portland Trail Blazers, and Washington Wizards.

Some were expected as a result of underperforming last season, where the writing was on the wall. Others, such as the Boston Celtics vacancy, were a surprise to almost everyone around the NBA. Turnover seems to be more common than ever in the modern NBA, and there are likely to be even more coaches moving in mid-season in 2021-22.

There are very few head coaches in the NBA that can reasonably feel comfortable in any given year. Mike Budenholzer was highly criticized and seemed to be on his way out last season before leading the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA Championship.

Top of the division, bottom of the league, it doesn't matter.

Three coaches who could be on the hot seat in the 2021-22 NBA season

#3 Doc Rivers

You may not have expected to see the head coach of the best Eastern Conference regular season team here, but Rivers was highly criticized for his playoff performance. The Sixers fell to the Atlanta Hawks and the coaching staff seemed hesitant to adapt to what the opposition was throwing their way.

The Philadelphia 76ers are going to be in headlines for most of the 2021-22 NBA season, and already are with the Ben Simmons saga still current. With the well-documented high expectations and heartlessness of the Philadelphia fanbase, I could see pressure being placed on Doc Rivers if the start of the season is shaky.

He may be gifted the benefit of the doubt when working with a distinctly new roster after an inevitable Ben Simmons trade. Properly optimizing NBA MVP-candidate Joel Embiid is key here, and it's hard to say that Doc has done that during his tenure with the 76ers.

It would take a very rough stretch of basketball from the talented Phiadelphia 76ers roster, but Doc Rivers feels next in line to be the scapegoat after Simmons' departure.

#2 Billy Donovan

This is the first NBA season in some time that the Chicago Bulls are carrying high expectations coming into the year. Nikola Vucevic's full year, combined with the additions of DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, has understandably made anything but the playoffs a failure this upcoming season.

It's a daunting task to idealize a roster with this much turnover and overlapping skillsets. Billy Donovan has a lot ahead of him this NBA season, and feels like the first person to have fingers pointed towards him if the results are underwhelming.

With the aforementioned significant roster turnover and assumed improvement, the front office will likely look toward the coaching staff before feeling a need to make more player-based changes.

Throughout his five seasons as an NBA head coach, Billy Donovan possessed a winning percentage of 58.1. While he has had some impressive years, primarily leading the Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Oklahoma City Thunder to the playoffs, the jury is still out on Donovan as a head coach.

#1 Luke Walton

Luke Walton had LeBron James on his NBA roster with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018-19 and still missed the postseason. Nearly every young player who left Luke Walton during his time with the Lakers notably improved after.

It may have just been their natural development arch, but the names include Julius Randle, Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Jordan Clarkson. The real issue is that it's difficult to point to any one player that Luke Walton has optimized during his five years as a NBA head coach.

Sacramento's Buddy Hield thrived under Dave Joerger and has slumped since Walton's arrival with the Kings. Many expected the Kings to move on from Luke Walton this offseason after posting the worst defensive rating of all-time, but the organization opted to remain with him going into the 2021-22 NBA season.

Walton is noted as a "player-coach" and is well liked by seemingly every player on Sacramento's roster. Let's not forget that Stephen Curry publicly advocated for Mark Jackson and Giannis Antetokounmpo did the same for Jason Kidd. Look at how those coaching changes catapulted their careers and team success.

Luke Walton has a win percentage of 41 throughout his five seasons as an NBA head coach. If the Sacramento Kings struggle as they did last season, don't be surprised to see Walton replaced mid-season.