Stephen Silas is out as the head coach of the Houston Rockets after the team declined to pick up his fourth-year option, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Kelly Iko. The move has been anticipated for quite some time. Silas took over the Rockets after the 2019-20 season, and the team was almost immediately blown up afterward. Russell Westbrook was traded for John Wall before Silas ever coached a game, and early into his first season as Houston's coach, the Rockets traded James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets. That left Silas to coach a skeleton crew of leftover veterans and young, developing players.

The Rockets never played sustainably competitive basketball under Silas. Houston finished 17-55 for the worst record in the NBA during Silas' debut 2020-21 season, and while they improved to 20-62 a year later, that mark was also the worst in the league at the time. The Rockets won't have the NBA's worst record this season, as that dubious honor will belong to the Detroit Pistons, but at 22-60, they weren't much better.