The Houston Rockets sure seem to like conducting interviews.

I’ve always wanted to be one of the Mavens of the world, diligently vetting my choices as a consumer, employee and general human being, but alas, I always come up short because I am an inconceivably lazy man. When I should look into deals on groceries in my neighborhood, I instead buy water and beer at CVS. As bills seem to arbitrarily rise month-to-month and my money accordingly disappears, I just buy less water and booze.

Thankfully, the man in complete control of the future of the Houston Rockets is not at all like me. No, Daryl Morey does his due diligence, seeks out his options and, when deciding which man will stalk the sidelines at Toyota Center next October, makes educated decisions based on the information gathered from a wide array of sources. Very wide. As in, “Daryl Morey is interviewing anyone without a job”-wide. Via ESPN:

Kevin McHale will join a long list of cadidates interviewing for the Houston Rockets coaching job, Yahoo! Sports reported Thursday.

A Hall of Famer as a player, McHale coached the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2005 and from 2008-09. He also served as the team’s general manager.

Former Rockets guard Sam Cassell, as well as former Oklahoma and Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson, will also interview, KRIV-TV in Houston reported Tuesday.

The article goes on to list possible targets for the head coaching job including Boston Celtics assistant coach Lawrence Frank, Los Angeles Lakers assistant Brian Shaw, San Antonio Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer, Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy and real estate magnate Donald Trump. This is, of course, after the Rockets have already been attached to Dallas Mavericks assistanmt Dwane Casey, former coaches Mike Brown and Mike Woodson last week. Those Rockets… they really like their options. So much so that this is on the verge of celebrity tabloid papers reporting on the list of people with whom Famous Celebrity A had sex last week.

Initially, this feels like a great sign about the significance of the commitment that this Houston front office has made to doing its legwork on this all-important search that, apparently (as the Mavs look second-round-bound and the Magic have gained momentum), may not be over for a while. Who doesn’t want our front office to look at as many candidates as possible, casting a net wide enough to grab the right weirdo with a plan?

Still, some of these picks seem like half-hearted grasps at diaphanously thin straws. Kevin McHale, whose last turn as a T-Wolves coach went well enough before Al Jefferson went down with injury, has been described by former players as akin to “a kid just messing around (on an Etch-a-Sketch)” when trying to draw up plays. Sam Cassell has forever seemed a natural, inevitable head coach, but could a team in the Rockets’ proverbial shoes take a chance on a guy who was an assistant for one year on a 23-59 team? College coaches? Even the ones who have done work on NBA sidelines as assistants have trouble adjusting to the NBA grind.

The Rockets’ extended summer will be a giant question mark hovering above the team thanks to this prolonged, expanded hunt for a coach, but perhaps the question will be big enough that a matching answer could be found before the foreboding possible NBA lockout leaves basketball operations closed for any period of time. Hey, the Magic can’t make the Finals, can they?

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