{"id":739543,"date":"2026-05-20T19:30:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/739543\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T19:30:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:30:15","slug":"2026-nba-coaching-carousel-power-ranking-the-job-openings-from-worst-to-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/739543\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NBA coaching carousel: Power ranking the job openings, from worst to best"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Mavericks<\/a>\u2019 firing of head coach Jason Kidd<\/a> on Tuesday, with a reported four years and $40 million remaining on his contract, came as somewhat of a shock.<\/p>\n

It opened up a sixth head coaching job in the NBA this summer \u2014 and an attractive one at that, considering Cooper Flagg<\/a> carries the franchise on his broad shoulders.<\/p>\n

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While the Milwaukee Bucks<\/a> and New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> have already hired Taylor Jenkins and Jamahl Mosley as their new head coaches, respectively, that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t include those jobs \u2014 along with openings on the Chicago Bulls<\/a>, Dallas Mavericks, Orlando Magic<\/a> and Portland Trail Blazers<\/a> \u2014\u00a0in our power rankings of the NBA\u2019s 2026 coaching carousel. Which job is worst? And which one is best?<\/p>\n

Let us count them down.<\/p>\n

6. Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n

2025-26 record: 32-50, 11th in the East<\/p>\n

2026 salary cap space (projected<\/a>): $15.1 million non-taxpayer MLE<\/p>\n

Future first-round draft picks: No. 10 (own); 2030 (swap with POR); 2031-32 (own)<\/p>\n

On one hand \u2026 They have Antetokounmpo, one of the five best players in the world!<\/p>\n

On the other \u2026 They are \u201copen for business<\/a>\u201d on trades involving Antetokounmpo, and we expect a resolution to their break-up soon, perhaps by the June 23-24 draft.<\/p>\n

Without Giannis, and even with him, this is a mess of a roster. They were 15-31 when he was on the bench this past season and 17-19 when he was in the lineup. They are paying Myles Turner $83.6 million to play for them through 2029, and they are paying Damian Lillard<\/a> $90 million not to play for them through 2030. It is a real conundrum.<\/p>\n

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They hired Jenkins to navigate their way out of this, but how? That we cannot know until we learn of the return for Antetokounmpo. Even then, it will be a years-long road to recovery, if not more, since the Bucks do not own their own picks again until 2031.<\/p>\n

5. New Orleans Pelicans<\/p>\n

2025-26 record: 26-56, 11th in the West<\/p>\n

2026 salary cap space (projected<\/a>): $15.1 million non-taxpayer MLE<\/p>\n

Future first-round draft picks: 2027-32 (own)<\/p>\n

On one hand \u2026 Assuming they pick up a $42.2 million option on Zion Williamson<\/a>, the Pelicans have a two-time All-Star under contract, plus two-way wings Murphy and Jones, which was the basis of a .500 team for the middle two months of the season.<\/p>\n

On the other \u2026 This is New Orleans<\/a>, a small market that spends like one, and the vision of every executive is often curtailed by an owner that doesn\u2019t appear to have one for this basketball team. The Pelicans last year turned to Joe Dumars, whose first order as lead executive was to trade a pick that landed at No. 8 in this June\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

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More recently, Dumars hired Jamahl Mosley as his new head coach. Mosley\u2019s tenure on the Orlando Magic sputtered at its recent end. Though his Magic nearly upset the top-seeded Detroit Pistons<\/a> in the opening round of this year\u2019s playoffs, there were real reasons to doubt Mosley\u2019s ability to design a quality offense. Maybe it was his personnel in Orlando. But it\u2019s not like the personnel gets any better in New Orleans.<\/p>\n

4. Portland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n

2025-26 record: 42-40, 8th in the West<\/p>\n

2026 salary cap space (projected<\/a>): $15.1 million non-taxpayer MLE<\/p>\n

Future first-round draft picks: 2027-32 (own); 2028 (swap with POR); 2029 (BOS); 2029 (MIL)<\/p>\n

On one hand \u2026 They have Avdija, one of the best contracts in the league, at least until he is due a massive raise in 2028. Him, plus a heck of a defense around him, was enough to get a single game against the mighty San Antonio Spurs<\/a> in the first round of the playoffs (albeit a game in which Victor Wembanyama<\/a> suffered a concussion).<\/p>\n

Maybe they are just one piece away (Antetokounmpo?<\/a>) from more serious contention. They have the contracts and draft assets to make any deal work.<\/p>\n

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On the other \u2026 The team\u2019s new owner, Tom Dundon, is cutting costs left<\/a> and right<\/a>. It remains in some question whether interim head coach Tiago Splitter<\/a>, who did an admirable job in place of an indicted Chauncey Billups<\/a>, will remain in place. It is also unclear if Dundon is willing to pay any coach commensurate with his peers, let alone whether or not he is willing to spend on a more competitive roster in the near future.<\/p>\n

3. Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n

2025-26 record: 31-51, 12th in the East<\/p>\n

2026 salary cap space (projected<\/a>): $63.5 million<\/p>\n

Future first-round draft picks: No. 4 (own); No. 15 (POR); 2027-32 (own)<\/p>\n

On one hand \u2026 They have the No. 4 pick in what is widely considered a draft with four elite prospects. While any of them \u2014\u00a0AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer<\/a> or Caleb Wilson \u2014\u00a0could theoretically fall to the Bulls, most projections, including our own<\/a>, figure Wilson, North Carolina\u2019s athletic 6-foot-9 big, for Chicago.<\/p>\n

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With Buzelis and Wilson, or whoever, the Bulls will have something of a foundation. It is now on the coach to develop them into a winning product they can sell to fans in Chicago, where they have been starved for a contender for more than a decade. It is not an easy job in a league full of young talent, both theoretical and fully realized.<\/p>\n

But it is a job any coach should welcome, so long as he or she is given a long runway to improve, and so long as he or she can trust the front office to make the right picks when more lottery selections inevitably come. They should tank and develop, which is a young coach\u2019s game and not one Billy Donovan could stomach for another year.<\/p>\n

On the other \u2026 These are the Bulls, who have made a single conference finals appearance in almost 30 years since Michael Jordan retired for a second time.<\/p>\n

Whether it is John Paxson and Gar Forman or Arturas Karnisovas and Marc Eversley, the executives in Chicago have not been able to follow through on any semblance of a vision beyond ownership\u2019s desire to field play-in tournament fodder every season.<\/p>\n

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The Bulls finally picked a direction this season, trading off Coby White<\/a> and Ayo Dosunmu<\/a> in an effort to get worse, which worked. And now they will trust their team to Bryson Graham, a 39-year-old first-time lead executive. Can he trust ownership to follow through on his vision? A difficult job begins with the hiring of a head coach.<\/p>\n

2. Orlando Magic<\/p>\n

2025-26 record: 45-37, 8th in the East<\/p>\n

Future first-round picks: 2027 (own); 2029 (swap with MEM); 2031-32 (own)<\/p>\n

On one hand \u2026 The Magic boast a starting lineup of Banchero, Wagner, Bane, Suggs and Carter, one that nearly upset the 60-win Pistons in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

On the other \u2026 Whoever the next coach is in Orlando will carry the weight of expectations that come with ownership paying top dollar for a roster. Still, there are serious questions about Banchero\u2019s efficiency as a high-usage playmaker, and about the Magic\u2019s ability to field a top-flight offense as a result. Mosley could only squeeze so much out of an oft-injured rotation. Who\u2019s to say the next coach can extract more?<\/p>\n

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A reshuffling of the roster might be in order, and that\u2019s always a challenge for any coach, but there is no denying that Orlando has enough talent and flexibility to field a competitive playoff team for some time. Whether or not they can actually contend for a championship will depend on the ceilings of Banchero and Wagner as players (or the ceilings of whoever they could get<\/a> in return for one of those existing stars).<\/p>\n

1. Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n

2025-26 record: 26-56, 12th in the West<\/p>\n

2026 salary cap space (projected<\/a>): $15.1 million non-taxpayer MLE<\/p>\n

Future first-round draft picks: No. 9 (own); No. 30 (OKC); 2029 (LAL); 2030 (GSW<\/a>); 2031-32 (own)<\/p>\n

On one hand \u2026 The Mavericks feature Flagg, the NBA\u2019s No. 1 overall draft pick in 2025 and its Rookie of the Year in 2026. The 19-year-old is the sort of all-around talent who can lead a franchise to championship contention, and it will be the responsibility of the team\u2019s next head coach to shepherd him and them to that end.<\/p>\n

The firing of Kidd should not have come as a complete surprise. It allows new team president Masai Ujiri the opportunity to align with his own hand-selected coach.<\/p>\n

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Dallas also has another top-10 pick coming its way in the forthcoming draft.<\/p>\n

On the other \u2026 Ujiri\u2019s post-championship tenure in Toronto<\/a> did not end well, as the Raptors missed the playoffs in four of his final five seasons with the organization.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not like the Mavericks have a ton to work with, other than Flagg and maybe Dereck Lively II, who has appeared in 43 games over the past two seasons. The team traded most of its future to field a contender around Luka Don\u010di\u0107<\/a>, and then dealt Don\u010di\u0107 for a song. The ownership group that green-lit those decisions is still there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Mavericks\u2019 firing of head coach Jason Kidd on Tuesday, with a reported four years and $40…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739544,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[2745,4008,1130,4102,7,507,6461,7146,17047,2298,329,963,225,149,125,2619,2878,980,1264,803,497,188,974,403,123,875,996,2559,4202,3891,2291,461,2684,960,5673,983,2821,5316,2771,965,2038,498,7212,124,967,368,973,7139,3539,121,367,5989,6,478,470,2282,3544,76,402,6140,8283,471,977,2763,1020,474,4425,4426,15840,680,7140,6277,6514,1253,693,454,1309,1259,814],"class_list":["post-739543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-aj-green","tag-aj-johnson","tag-anthony-black","tag-ayo-dosunmu","tag-basketball","tag-bobby-portis","tag-caleb-martin","tag-caleb-wilson","tag-cameron-boozer","tag-chauncey-billups","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-coby-white","tag-cooper-flagg","tag-dallas-mavericks","tag-damian-lillard","tag-daniel-gafford","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-deni-avdija","tag-dereck-lively-ii","tag-derik-queen","tag-desmond-bane","tag-detroit-pistons","tag-donovan-clingan","tag-franz-wagner","tag-giannis-antetokounmpo","tag-goga-bitadze","tag-gsw","tag-head-coach","tag-herb-jones","tag-isaac-okoro","tag-jalen-smith","tag-jalen-suggs","tag-jamahl-mosley","tag-jase-richardson","tag-jerami-grant","tag-jeremiah-fears","tag-jonathan-isaac","tag-jordan-hawkins","tag-jordan-poole","tag-josh-giddey","tag-jrue-holiday","tag-klay-thompson","tag-kris-murray","tag-kyle-kuzma","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-luka-doncic","tag-matas-buzelis","tag-max-christie","tag-micah-peavy","tag-milwaukee-bucks","tag-myles-turner","tag-naji-marshall","tag-nba","tag-new-orleans","tag-new-orleans-pelicans","tag-noa-essengue","tag-noah-penda","tag-orlando-magic","tag-paolo-banchero","tag-patrick-williams","tag-pj-washington","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-rob-dillingham","tag-ryan-rollins","tag-saddiq-bey","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-scoot-henderson","tag-shaedon-sharpe","tag-tiago-splitter","tag-toronto","tag-toumani-camara","tag-tre-jones","tag-trey-murphy-iii","tag-tristan-da-silva","tag-victor-wembanyama","tag-wendell-carter-jr","tag-yang-hansen","tag-yves-missi","tag-zion-williamson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739543\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}