NBA Rumors: 76ers Target Doc Rivers Garners Interest From Rockets

The NBA head coach free agency market just got interesting as Doc Rivers became available. The 76ers are interested in the longtime head coach, but they have stiff competition with the Rockets.

The Los Angeles Clippers were expected to keep Doc Rivers as the head coach a couple of weeks back after dropping a 3-1 series lead against the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

On Monday, the Clippers had a change of heart. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski first broke the news on Monday evening that L.A. was planning to move on from Rivers after seven seasons. Shortly after, the now-former Clippers coach confirmed the rumors.

"Thank you Clipper Nation for allowing me to be your coach and for all your support in helping make this a winning franchise," Rivers said in a statement posted to Twitter. "When I took this job, my goals were to make this a winning basketball program, a free agent destination, and bring a championship to this organization."

Rivers helped coach the Clippers into relevancy over the years but failed to accomplish the ultimate goal of winning it all. After acquiring prominent names such as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George last offseason, Clippers' management expected the 2020 playoff run to be championship or bust. Unfortunately for them, they failed and came up short a lot earlier than expected.

Now, Rivers is a free agent. And less than two hours after parting ways with the Clippers, multiple teams reached out. The first two reported were the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Orleans Pelicans. Later on, the Houston Rockets became the third team to show interest in Rivers, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

"The Rockets do have interest in Rivers, a person with knowledge of the team's thinking said," Feigen reported on Monday. "They were expecting and likely still plan to begin requesting permission to speak with candidates or scheduling meetings by Wednesday or Thursday. Those candidates are expected to include Tyronn Lue, Jeff Van Gundy, Kenny Atkinson, Wes Unseld Jr., Stephen Silas, and possibly Sam Cassell."

Two of those candidates mentioned above are on the Sixers' shortlist of targets. For the last couple of weeks, Philly has considered Clippers assistant Ty Lue and former Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni the top candidates to replace Brett Brown after seven seasons. With Rivers in the mix, however, the search could see a shakeup as the 76ers could very well pursue the veteran head coach.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_