The Oklahoma City Thunder’s coaching staff has been finalized.
On Wednesday, the team announced who will join first-year head coach Mark Daigneault in the 2020-21 season.
David Akinyooye, Dave Bliss, Mike Miller and Mike Wilks will serve as assistant coaches and Zach Peterson and Kameron Woods will be player development coaches.
“This group has proven to be great collaborators during their time with the Thunder, complementing their ability to help develop our team and players,” Daigneault said in a statement. “They all share a deep commitment and understanding for the values of the organization and are dedicated to being continuous learners.
Miller is the only new coach on the Thunder’s staff. Last season, he served as an interim head coach for the New York Knicks after the firing of David Fizadale. The bulk of his experience comes at the college and G League levels.
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Akinyooye was an assistant on Daigneault’s Oklahoma City Blue coaching staff, the G League affiliate of the Thunder. Both coaches joined the NBA team last season. Akinyooye has also spent time as a coach for the San Antonio Spurs and for Asvel Lyon-Villeurbanne Basket in France.
Bliss re-joined the Thunder staff last season as a player development coach after serving the Knicks for the previous three seasons at the same position. This is his second stint with Oklahoma City, as he worked as a video analyst and player development coach from 2010 to 2015. He was the head coach of the Thunder’s summer league team last summer.
Wilks was a senior pro evaluation scout for the Thunder for seven seasons before becoming an assistant coach last year. He played in the NBA from 2002 to 2010, spending parts of three different seasons with the Seattle SuperSonics and ending his career with the Thunder. He is the second former Thunder player to become a coach for the team.
Peterson got his NBA start in 2014 as a video intern with the Atlanta Hawks. By 2017 he became the head video coordinator, and the next season joined the Milwaukee Bucks in the same capacity. Last season, he joined the Thunder as a player development coach.
Woods played on the Blue under Daigneault for two seasons and then spent two years as an assistant coach on the G League team, one of which was under Daigneault. He’ll rejoin the head coach’s staff in player development.
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