Could Rockets Hire Kelvin Sampson If Houston Cougars Win March Madness?

Houston Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson has taken the collegiate ranks by storm, and could be in line for a move up to the big leagues with the Houston Rockets come summer.

The Houston Rockets are guaranteed a lottery pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, and as the No. 29 overall seed in the league, have as good a chance as any team at winning the Draft Lottery and landing generational talent Victor Wembanyama. 

With an incoming class of young prospects and the possibility for supplementary trades in the offseason, the Rockets may be in the market for a coaching change. The Dream Take podcast recently weighed in on potential suitors:

"My number one choice, I don't know if he's attainable, is Kelvin Sampson," The Dream Take said. "It's different, it's weird, it feels awkward, but everything is there to make it happen."

Sampson is the current coach of the Houston Cougars. He has led the program to a 31-3 record this season en route to recently being named the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Division 1 Mens Basketball tournament.

The Cougars are among the favorites to reach the Final Four and win it all. In the event that general manager Rafael Stone were to be able to lure Sampson away from the college division, should he win the championship, Sampson would step in for current Rockets head coach Stephen Silas.

The Rockets have been dead last in the Western Conference in 2021 and 2022 under Silas and are on pace to make it three-in-a-row come season's end. Much of Houston's organizational modus operandi has been allocating top-shelf talent in the draft and developing their young core. 

In wake of this, Houston has been an afterthought in the NBA and could very well gift Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr. -- two former top-three draft picks -- with Victor Wembanyama come Spring, should they win the luck of the draw. 

On April 4, 2019, Sampson agreed to a six-year, $18 million contract, excluding NCAA tournament incentives, per Bleacher Report. An NBA contract figures to amount to more than $3 million annually. Should Sampson negotiate, he will have to choose between sticking with a budding Cougars program, or dealing with potential lasting mediocrity with the Rockets until his talent reaches maturity, threatening the security of said job. 

---

Want the latest in news and insider information on the Houston Rockets? Click here

Follow Inside the Rockets on Facebook here

Follow Inside the Rockets on Twitter @InsideRocketsFN

Want even more Houston Rockets news? Check out the SI.com team page here