Another year, another NBA head coaching cycle that prominently features Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham. Despite all of the attention and interviews he’s gotten for various job openings, no team has taken a chance on him yet.
This year, there are three openings so far and they all have been linked to Ham. The Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, and Charlotte Hornets are all looking for a new voice to lead them going forward and Ham would be a quality choice for any team that chooses to hire him.
That being said, what about the fit for Ham? We all have confidence that he’d do a good job wherever he goes, but which job would put him in the best position to succeed and isn’t an absolute tire fire of an organization?
My criteria will is some mix of organizational competence, roster construction, and pressure. Before all of that, let’s get some honorable mentions out of the way.
Honorable mentions: Jobs that aren’t open at the moment, but could be
I’ll toss four teams in this pile: the Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Utah Jazz, and Philadelphia 76ers. All of these are speculative since they don’t actually have a job opening yet, but it could become available soon.
The Nets had a tough season with injuries, vaccine mandates, and general dysfunction that led them to be the seventh seed. Steve Nash took a lot of flak during their series with the Boston Celtics, but it’s hard to put all of the blame on him when the roster just wasn’t very good outside of the two stars and a couple of role players.
Reports indicate Nash will be back, which is a good decision. He’s still a young coach and the players like him.
I doubt Tom Thibodeau gets let go in New York, but I’ve never been a fan of his whatsoever. The Knicks had a fun season last year to get back to the playoffs but took a major step back this year (as Thibodeau-coached teams tend to do). I’d let him go, but I don’t think the Knicks will just yet.
Utah is set up for a cataclysmic offseason after another disappointing playoff exit. Reports are that Rudy Gobert wants out and Donovan Mitchell may not be far behind him. There have been rumors that Quin Snyder may bolt as well (perhaps for the Lakers), so this is a fun potential opening to watch.
Philadelphia is still in the playoffs but after escaping disaster in the first round and staring down a 2-0 series deficit against the Miami Heat, things are dicey for Doc Rivers. This is another one where I don’t expect he’d get let go because they’ll have the “well, Joel Embiid wasn’t healthy” excuse but they’re certainly going to consider it!
You could also toss teams like the Houston Rockets (Stephen Silas) and Detroit Pistons (Dwane Casey) in here, but those teams would have decided to let those guys go at this point, you’d have to think.
#3 job opening for Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham: Sacramento Kings
It was an absolute toss-up between the Kings and my #2 team, but I landed on Sacramento last here. They were the first team to be linked to Ham (as well as Bucks assistant Charles Lee).
They want to win now (win is a relative term in this case) after acquiring Domantas Sabonis around the trade deadline (along with former Buck Donte DiVincenzo and other stuff) and pairing him with De’Aaron Fox — one of my favorite players in the league — and I don’t hate the roster, I guess.
They also have a potential top ten pick coming in this draft and, with some lottery luck, could get into the top five! So that’s Sabonis, Fox, Harrison Barnes, DiVincenzo, Davion Mitchell, and Richaun Holmes (pending his legal situation). That’s a decent enough group plus a top five-to-ten pick, I’m intrigued.
Good lord the organization is in shambles though. I can’t blame Monte McNair fully for how the roster has been handled, but taking guards in two straight drafts when you already have Fox was puzzling, and then trading the most promising one among the group in Tyrese Haliburton for Sabonis was equally puzzling.
I assume this is pressure from owner Vivek Ranadive to be competitive and break their lengthy playoff drought. I don’t want Ham to get sucked into the vacuum of dysfunction that is the Kings. We want the best for you, Darvin. Don’t do it.
#2 job opening for Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham: Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers were linked to Ham after letting Frank Vogel go only two seasons removed from winning a championship.
Again, it was close between the Lakers and the Kings for these spots. Both organizations are incredibly dysfunctional at the moment but the dysfunction is all out in the open in Los Angeles as opposed to Sacramento where no one really talks about them.
The Lakers roster is theoretically better than the Kings. LeBron James and Anthony Davis are great! They should be competing for a title every year! However, the pieces around them don’t fit at all.
They lost all of their quality depth in the Russell Westbrook trade so when James and Davis miss their (apparently contractually obligated) half-season’s worth of games, they didn’t have the depth to withstand it. They’re going to try to ship Westbrook away this offseason, but that won’t be easy and you’re still left with no depth. They don’t even have their lottery pick this year!
There also isn’t a guarantee that James is in L.A. much longer with his reported interest in wanting to play with his son, no matter where he gets drafted. And while he is there, you’ll be bossed around by their two stars and be undercut in the media constantly.
This all has the makings of a very undesirable job! But there’s still that small chance that you can win a title and that’s all you want as a coach, player, GM, fan, owner, anything. That’s what gives them the slight edge over the Kings. But still, don’t do it!
#1 job opening for Milwaukee Bucks assistant Darvin Ham: Charlotte Hornets
This is easily the most attractive job opening and it isn’t particularly close. That isn’t to say the Hornets are the gold standard for a well-run organization, but they aren’t the Lakers and Kings so that’s enough for me.
The Hornets let James Borrego go after four seasons and no playoff appearances, but a whole lot of fun. They’re the most recent team to be linked to Ham and I’d love this opportunity for him.
Let’s start with the obvious: LaMelo Ball is the most desirable star player to coach in this group. He’s an absolutely dynamic talent offensively and has the size to be a good defender if he can just get motivated on that end. He’s what makes them the most desirable job in this cycle by a long, long distance.
Beyond him, though, is a roster with more depth than the Lakers and more intriguing pieces than the Kings.
Miles Bridges had a breakout season and will need to get paid but he’s a great building block. I wanted P.J. Washington as a sneaky trade deadline pickup for the Bucks, but he’s a great floor-spacing big that has shown some fun defensive flashes. Terry Rozier is a fun microwave scorer that has found his footing after a tough first season in Charlotte. They’ve also been tossed around as a potential Gobert destination if he’s moved this offseason. He’d fix a lot of their defensive shortcomings and be a fantastic lob threat for Ball.
I didn’t like the Oubre signing last offseason, they can probably do without him. Hayward will probably get moved in a potential Gobert deal for salary purposes, but he’s been great since signing there. I like their young prospects in James Bouknight, J.T. Thor, and Kai Jones.
Darvin Ham, if you’re seeing this and Charlotte offers you the job, take it. They need you and it’s a nice, young roster that you can help take to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
For as much as I’d like Ham to stay with the Milwaukee Bucks, I want to see him finally get his chance as a head coach. It’s long, long overdue. Good luck, Darvin!