Ime Udoka 'Serious Candidate' to Become Head Coach of Celtics' Division Rival

On Wednesday, Ime Udoka met with the Houston Rockets to discuss their head coaching vacancy, per Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

The Rockets have a promising young core featuring Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr, and Alperen Sengun. And they're poised to add to that after finishing the campaign 22-60, tied with the San Antonio Spurs for the second-worst record in the NBA.

Houston, San Antonio, and the Detroit Pistons each have a 14 percent chance of getting the top pick in this year's draft and winning the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.

The Rockets and Spurs, respectively, have a 52.1 percent chance of making a pick in the top four. But if neither does, the former will come on the clock before the latter, the result of this year's end-of-season random drawing to determine tiebreakers and help sort out the draft order.

As previously detailed, that outcome is a positive one for the Celtics.

But while Udoka remains a top candidate to replace Stephen Silas as Houston's head coach, Friday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the Toronto Raptors are moving on from Nick Nurse.

The now former Raptors' bench boss's future with the franchise beyond this season has long been in question, with rumors of him becoming head coach of the Rockets swirling long before he became available.

Nurse will immediately become a prominent candidate in the Houston Rockets’ coaching search, sources tell ESPN. He won the 2019 NBA title as Raptors coach, and was voted the 2020 NBA Coach of the Year.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 21, 2023

As for the position Nurse leaves behind, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, "Ime Udoka is expected to be a serious candidate" to fill the newly created opening in Toronto.

Udoka becoming the Raptors' head coach would mean four games a season vs. the team he helped lead to the NBA Finals last year. It's a potential outcome many Celtics fans and perhaps members of the organization, players included, would likely prefer not to see.

Further Reading

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The Celtics Discuss Their Game 1 Win vs. the Hawks: 'We Can't Take Our Foot Off the Gas'

Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Game 1 Win vs. Hawks: Championship-Caliber Defense Propels Hosts in Series Opener