Kenny

Smith

The Rockets are already looking at former player Sam Cassell as their potential head coach and may add his former teammate to the list. Smith played coy on Wednesday and said he’s happy at TNT, but we’ll keep an eye on news surrounding the former Rockets guard.

Run through the tape? According to the report, general manager Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander are expected to fly out there for the interview. Smith has become a TV personality for so long that it would certainly be a compelling fit for a team with a lot of turmoil this season.

While Smith met with the Rockets, he doesn’t sound likely to leave TNT. “I had great talks with [team owner] Les Alexander afterwards for a couple of days,” Smith said. “We corresponded. The Rockets have a philosophy of what they think their coach should be. Right now, I’m here and it looks like I’m going to be here. And that’s great.” The Rockets will now likely shift their attention to names like Frank Vogel and David Blatt, so fans of Smith’s work on TNT have nothing ton worry about.

This isn’t really a surprise at all. The Rockets are likely to focus on former head coaches to run things. While Smith is entertaining on TV, being out of the league for a while likely hurt his chances. They’ll be going after guys like Frank Vogel this week.

Smith has no coaching or front office experience, but this isn’t his first interview for a head-coaching job -- he interviewed with the Rockets back in 2016. He joins a long list of candidates that includes Mark Jackson, Jerry Stackhouse, David Fizdale, Mike Woodson and David Blatt.

The Jet has been a key piece on TNT for their NBA coverage, and he’s more about the Xs and Os than the other two analysts on the Inside the NBA panel. Smith did also interview for the Knicks job back in April, but it didn’t sound like he was close to getting that position. The Pistons sound like they want to get this figured out before the NBA Draft.

It sounds like Smith has a shot to take over in Detroit, but it’s still believed that Dwane Casey is the favorite, according to Stein and other reports. Stein also added that John Beilein has withdrawn from the coaching search in Detroit. Smith would be an unconventional hire for the Pistons, but they’ve already shown their desperation since February.