After a lengthy process in which the Houston Rockets interviewed a number of candidates for their head coaching vacancy, they've finally settled on their guy.

Calvin Watkins of ESPN reports that the Rockets and Mike D'Antoni are finalizing a contract to bring him to Houston.

The deal will extend over the course of three seasons, with a team option for the fourth. General manager Daryl Morey hopes that the offensive-minded coach can ignite their scoring punch again next year.

This all but assures that Dwight Howard will be leaving Houston this offseason, though. Howard never got along with D'Antoni while they were in Los Angeles together, and it was reported last week that if Mike became the Rockets' coach, Dwight would sign elsewhere.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press
Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

D’Antoni served as an assistant coach for Brett Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers this season. Previously, he was head coach for 12 seasons, most notably with the Phoenix Suns from 2003 to 2008. He won the Coach of the Year award in 2005.

Despite all of the success he had with Steve Nash out in the desert, there seems to be a stigma attached to his name thanks to his fruitless stints with the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers, two of the NBA’s cornerstone franchises.

Jeff Van Gundy and Kenny Smith had been identified as favored candidates for the vacant head coaching position in Houston, but both eventually fell out of the running.

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