Michigan Basketball: 3 reasons Wolverines need Juwan Howard

Backup HC in Miami

While he might be the assistant coach in Miami, he’s the go-to assistant coach. Remember what happened when John Beilein got ejected? Saddi Washington took over and that’s what Juwan is for Eric Spoelstra.

Whether it be in the summer league or the regular season, Juwan has proved time and time again as the de facto head coach when Eric isn’t present.

On top of being such a successful player for the Heat – winning two titles – Howard is getting recognized as one of the rising coaching stars in the NBA. Anytime a head coaching position opens up, Juwan’s name enters the short list of potential candidates.

247Sports Sam Quinn wrote in his article Why the Lakers should turn to Juwan Howard as next coach, “If their history is any indication, teams should be lining up to hire Juwan Howard as we speak. Three Miami assistants have earned head coaching jobs since Riley took over the team. One of them, Spoelstra, has two championships. Another, Stan Van Gundy, reached the NBA Finals. The third, David Fizdale, could easily get there next year. Heat assistants don’t rise through the ranks by accident.”

"Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard will interview for the Detroit Pistons coaching job in the next few days, league sources tell ESPN."

Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a twitter ‘Woj bomb’ last year letting the NBA know Howard was a candidate for the Pistons and Juwan went as far as interviewing for the position.

There was also speculation that Howard was a candidate for the Knicks job, all indications that it’s time to bring Juwan home before he ends up leading an NBA franchise or, even worse, another college team.