By George Efkarpides / info@eurohoops.net
The Suns signed Igor Kokoskov and the New York Knicks have found their man in David Fizdale. Two franchises that haven’t had winning seasons in a while are desperately trying to turn their franchise around with “new NBA blood”.
There are still quite a few organizations in the market for a coach. The Orlando Magic, the Atlanta Hawks, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Charlotte Hornets all have a head coaching vacancy.
Former CSKA head coach and current Spurs assistant, Ettore Messina, is a prime candidate for all coaching vacancies.
Mitch Kupchak has rumored to already have interviewed Messina even though the Italian Legend denied those rumors during San Antonio’s playoff push.
It was Kupchak that brought Messina over to the States to serve as an assistant and consultant for the Lakers under coach Mike Brown in the 2011-2012 season.
Messina is one of the most respected coaches in Europe having won four Euroleague titles and is considered a basketball mastermind around the NBA.
He’s been with the Spurs since 2014 and led them to their lone victory in the playoffs this season as coach Popovich mourned the loss.
And it doesn’t hurt that former assistants of Greg Popovich have thrived as head coaches.
In his second year as the head coach of Atlanta, coach Mike Budenholzer led the Hawks to a franchise record 60-win season which resulted in all-star selections for four of his five starters. Budenholzer has also coached in Europe, in Vejle BK of Denmark of all places.
In the playoffs, Atlanta reached the conference finals and eventually got swept by LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.
He is now a free agent but multiple teams have already reached out to him.
Former Spurs assistant Brett Brown is looking to take Philadelphia to the conference finals for the first time since 2001.
He won four championships as an assistant coach and has now brought the championship culture to Philadelphia.
Could Messina be the heir of “Pop” in San Antonio? While that is a possibility, several teams are in need of a maestro to orchestrate a rebuild of culture and basketball and fundamentals.
Messina’s experience, demeanor and winning mentality are destined to land him a head coaching job in the NBA. And while Kokoskov beat him on the honor to be the first European born head coach, Messina has the pedigree to make a splash by leading his own team to greatness.