Rockets weighing Silas/Hollins vs. D'Antoni/Bzdelik

Stephen Silas is getting strong consideration from the Rockets as their next head coach.

Click through the gallery to see the likely candidates for the job. Stephen Silas is getting strong consideration from the Rockets as their next head coach.

Click through the gallery to see the likely candidates for the job. Photo: Getty Images Photo: Getty Images Image 1 of / 17 Caption Close Rockets weighing Silas/Hollins vs. D'Antoni/Bzdelik 1 / 17 Back to Gallery

The competition for the Rockets head coaching position got another, very different contender on Friday.

While still considering Mike D'Antoni for what would be his fifth head coaching positon, the Rockets are also seriously weighing the hiring of Hornets assistant Stephen Silas, long considered one of the NBA's rising and respected assistants, two individuals familiar with the team's decision-making said on Friday.

Silas' potential staff, according to the individuals that spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the private nature of talks, would include former Grizzlies and Nets head coach Lionel Hollins as lead assistant.

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Though very traditional in his approach, Hollins has long been favored by Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, who hoped to add Hollins to Kevin McHale's coaching staff after the 2013-14 season before Hollins landed the head coaching position with the Brooklyn Nets.

Much of the conversations with D'Antoni since his meeting with Morey and Rockets owner Leslie Alexander have also been about the staff he would put together with Grizzlies assistant Jeff Bzdelik emerging as D'Antoni's likely choice as a defensive specialist. Bzdelik, a former Nuggets head coach, met with Morey and Alexander about the Rockets head coaching position on Thursday.

Just as D'Antoni, 65, has had many head coaching stops — with the Nuggets, Suns, Knicks and Lakers in addition to a celebrated career in Italy — Silas has been with five teams as an assistant. Silas, 42, coached with the Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets, the Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors and Portland Trail Blazers before returning to Charlotte for his current position under former Rockets assistant Steve Clifford.

Silas, the son of longtime NBA head coach Paul Silas, who was a candidate to be the Rockets head coach in 2003, became the youngest assistant coach in NBA history when he was hired by the Charlotte Bobcats at age 27 in 2000.

Silas has been a head coach for three summer league teams and was the acting head coach for the Bobcats for 12 games in the 2011-12 season.

The Warriors, who have sought to bring Silas back to Oakland on two prior occasions, are interested in Silas to replace Luke Walton when Walton becomes the Lakers head coach, Yahoo Sports reported on Friday.

Silas has long been known for strong relationships with his players, from Stephen Curry with the Warriors to Jeremy Lin when they reunited this season in Charlotte.

"I'm going to miss him a lot, man," Curry said when Silas took the position in Charlotte. "That was my go-to assistant for watching ﬁlm, studying my game and continuing to learn. I always went to him for advice. Personally, he's my guy."

Lin, who worked with Silas with the Warriors, cited his comfort with Silas as one of the reasons he chose to sign with the Hornets and praised his work this season.

"He's a big reason why I came to Charlotte," Lin said. "He understands what we're trying to do as a team and how I can improve as a player. He cares more. He watches the game multiple times after every game. He puts a lot more into it than the average person. He gives me reports after every 20 games or so and he breaks down every statistic. He explains to me what I'm doing well and what I need to work on. He puts different things on there that he thinks will be able to help me."

The Hornets this season shifted to an offensive style more in keeping with the Rockets' preference for pace-and-space, similar to the system D'Antoni popularized when he coached the Suns. Clifford has wanted to shift to the offensive style, often using range-shooting power forwards, he had used while an assistant under Stan Van Gundy in Orlando, a move that helped the Hornets move to ninth in offensive rating.

Clifford does not assign assistants to handle one end of the court, and Silas worked in a variety of areas. Similarly, Hollins would likely not be given responsibility over one end of the floor in a set up very different from the potential structure of a staff led by D'Antoni.

That is, however, just one of many differences from the top candidates the Rockets will consider in the coming days.