Jeff Hornacek — Former Suns Head Coach
When you talk about former head coaches that are currently on the open market and ripe for the picking, you have to think about former Phoenix Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek. Though he ultimately was dismissed from the desert in pretty unceremonious fashion, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the former Utah Jazz guard might’ve just been in the wrong place at the wrong time as he was at the helm of a situation that would’ve been toxic even if Gandhi was trying to play peacemaker with the roster.
All of that is to say that Hornacek may have gotten a bad rap for his time with the Suns. Remember that everyone around the league was once singing his praises for the job he did to almost get Phoenix into the postseason with a roster that many pundits believed wouldn’t be able to carry the team out of the top-3 in the NBA Draft Lottery. It was only after changes were made to the roster that left many players unhappy that things began to crumble under Hornacek.
In essence, Hornacek’s brief success and the bad situation that he was booted from makes him seem like a head coach that deserves another chance in this league. He’d have to actively try to do worse than Byron Scott, but I’d bet that he could actually do a lot of good with this young core for the Lakers and get the team heading in the right direction.
Next: Jeff Van Gundy, ESPN