Jazz Head Coach Quin Synder Linked to Hornets' Vacancy
As Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder prepares for a hip replacement surgery, his name is being bandied about as a hot candidate in multiple NBA cities. We've already learned of the Los Angeles Lakers' "serious" interest in luring Snyder away from Utah but a new report from BleacherReport's Jake Fischer links the Jazz's head coach to a job opening with the Charlotte Hornets.
Utah Jazz head coach Quin Snyder is another candidate to monitor for Charlotte's search, sources told B/R. Not only was Snyder a Lakers assistant during Kupchak's tenure, but Snyder also played college ball at nearby Duke in the 1980s and was a Blue Devils assistant from 1995 to 1999 before taking his first head coaching post at the University of Missouri.
Indeed, Michael Jordan fired James Borrego after four seasons as Charlotte's head coach on April 22. Surveying the field of prospective replacements, Jordan and company could covet Snyder — for more reasons than one.
Snyder has a past working relationship with Hornets' general manager Mitch Kupchak as a coaching assistant with the Lakers. It doesn't take much of a rational leap to understand why Jordan might like Snyder but the Kupchak connection makes a link to Charlotte all the more conspicuous.
Remember, though, Snyder has one year left on his deal with the Jazz, so it's hard to envision how any team could lure him out of Utah. But when it comes to tectonic maneuvers made by some of the most competitive people on the planet, like Jordan, all bets are off.
In order for a team to land Snyder in a traditional way, the Jazz's head coach would have to decline the option on his 2023-24 deal, as Fischer spells out.
Whether Snyder will be a candidate for the Hornets or Lakers job remains to be seen. He has one year left on his contract, league sources confirmed, and an option for the 2023-24 season, as first reported by The Athletic's Sam Amick. For Snyder to become a free agent, he would need to walk away before the conclusion of the agreement.
Reports indicate that Snyder has spurned Utah's overtures to extend him beyond 2022-23, which is a message outside teams are hearing loud and clear. Even if it's not direct evidence that Snyder wants out of Utah, at the very least, it indicates that he wants to keep his options open.
Jazz GM Justin Zanik has done his level best to throw cold water on all the rumors but Snyder will have to take action soon in order to completely quash any and all links to outside potential suitors.
"I don't know how I can make it any more clear," Zanik said after Utah's Game 6 playoff exit. "Quin Snyder is one of the best coaches in the NBA. There's no other partner that I would rather have as a coach, a leader of our players and a partner in the front office than Quin Snyder."
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