Rockets coaching search, April 13 updates: Frank Vogel interviews, Nick Nurse sees season end

As their rebuild continues, the Houston Rockets are ready to move to the next phase, according to general manager Rafael Stone. And that phase will not include former head coach Stephen Silas.

As soon as the 2022-23 season ended for the Rockets (22-60) this week, Silas had the team option on his coaching contract declined for the 2023-24 campaign. That put Houston into the coaching market. Former Pacers, Magic and Lakers head coach Frank Vogel; former Celtics coach Ime Udoka; former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson; former Thunder and Wizards coach Scott Brooks; and current Raptors coach Nick Nurse are among the initial list of prospective candidates.

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The Rockets are expected to put a premium on experience in this search, with a proven name potentially able to help their market appeal in a 2023 offseason when they have approximately $60 million in salary cap room — likely the most of any NBA team.

However, as Stone acknowledged in Monday’s press conference, the Rockets will likely interview candidates without prior head coaching experience as well. Houston’s third-year general manager expects the job to be quite attractive.

The team will not issue updates during its search, but tidbits from knowledgeable sources are likely to emerge. As of Thursday, here’s what we’ve learned about the process and the candidates involved, which could soon include Nurse, now that Toronto is eliminated from the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.