Tag: Scott Brooks

Report: Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks joins Lakers’ staff

Report: Former Thunder coach Scott Brooks joins Lakers’ staff.

The Los Angeles Lakers made the polarizing decision to hire JJ Redick as their head coach.

The former NBA player enters the job with zero coaching experience, which means he must surround himself with former head coaches.

The Lakers have done exactly that. Former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks was added to Redick’s staff, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Brooks led the Thunder to their first taste of success. He was the head coach from 2008-15. This came after he was an assistant the previous season. His tenure was highlighted by OKC’s NBA Finals appearance in 2012.

The Thunder moved on from Brooks in 2015 and hired Billy Donovan as his replacement. The former quickly found a new gig when he was the Washington Wizards head coach from 2016-21.

Since then, he’s spent the last three years with the Portland Trail Blazers as an assistant. This is a lateral move for the 58-year-old as he goes to Los Angeles to help Redick be successful.

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Nate McMillan, Scott Brooks are joining JJ Redick’s Lakers coaching staff

JJ Redick’s Lakers coaching staff will have a good amount of experience.

Over the last few days, the Los Angeles Lakers have apparently been trying to add to their roster via either free agency or a trade, although nothing has materialized. They have managed to only sign their own players so far, including LeBron James, Max Christie and rookies Dalton Knecht and Bronny James.

But they have also had the task of filling out head coach JJ Redick’s staff. It has now been just over a week since the Lakers officially hired him, but nabbing some assistants for him has been a slow process.

Redick said he wants at least a couple of assistants who have previously been head coaches in the NBA. He has now gotten his wish.

Via ESPN:

“The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks as top assistants on JJ Redick’s new staff, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday.”

McMillan has many years of head coaching experience, most notably with the Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers in the 2000s and early 2010s. Before that, he played a dozen seasons in the league, and during that time, he was known as a tenacious defender.

Brooks, a former NBA player himself, was the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder for seven seasons, starting with the 2008-09 campaign. He was later at the helm of the Washington Wizards for five seasons, and he has spent the last three years as an assistant on the Blazers.

Unlike the staff of former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham, Redick’s crew will have at least two members who have been there and done that.

JJ Redick wants both experience and youth on his coaching staff

New Lakers head coach JJ Redick says he wants both grizzled vets and young assistants on his coaching staff.

The JJ Redick era is now officially underway for the Los Angeles Lakers. On Monday, they held a press conference to officially introduce him as their new head coach, and there is at least the promise that he will become a good one.

But one potential major negative is the fact that he has virtually no coaching experience. Perhaps as a result, there has been plenty of talk that he and the Lakers want to fill his coaching staff with at least one man who has previously been a head coach.

Redick confirmed that during an interview with John Ireland, the Lakers’ radio play-by-play broadcaster. But he also said he wants some young assistants on his staff as well.

“I will have the say of who our coaching staff is. But that doesn’t mean Rob [Pelinka] and I are not collaborating on literally every single position. … We are completely aligned in that the front of bench should have experience. We definitely want at least a couple former head coaches in the NBA there. Behind the bench, we want young, hungry, innovative, fresh self-doers, self-motivated — that’s what we want behind the bench, and there’s gotta be that balance.”

One experienced candidate that has been mentioned is Scott Brooks, who spent 12 seasons as an NBA head coach, most notably with the Kevin Durant-led Oklahoma City Thunder. As far as young candidates, Rajon Rondo and Jared Dudley, both of whom played for the Lakers when they won it all in 2020, could be considered.

Lakers want to add multiple former head coaches to JJ Redick’s staff

The Lakers want to give JJ Redick a coaching staff that has been there and done that.

About a month and a half after firing Darvin Ham, the Los Angeles Lakers finally have a new head coach in place. On Thursday, it was announced that they had hired JJ Redick and signed him to a four-year deal.

Redick had reportedly been their top candidate for the last few weeks, even though they made a brief and stunning attempt to lure Dan Hurley away from the University of Connecticut. Redick, who is about to turn 40 years of age, spent 15 seasons in the NBA as a 3-point specialist, but he has virtually no coaching experience of any kind.

Therefore, the Lakers reportedly want to add multiple former head coaches to his staff, apparently in order to ease his transition. One big candidate is Scott Brooks.

Via Los Angeles Times:

“The Lakers are expected to add multiple former head coaches to Redick’s staff, people with knowledge of staff recruitment said,” wrote Dan Woike. “Former Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks is a name that’s been linked to the Lakers.”

Brooks most notably coached the Oklahoma City Thunder for seven seasons, beginning with the 2008-09 campaign. He got them to the NBA Finals in 2012, and he has experience working with big-name stars, as he coached Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden there.

Former Lakers players Rajon Rondo and Jared Dudley had been previously mentioned as candidates for Redick’s staff, and it looks like that hasn’t changed.

Via The Athletic:

“Assistant coaching candidates for Redick’s staff will include former head coach and recent [Portland] Trail Blazers assistant Scott Brooks, former Lakers guard Rajon Rondo, ex-Laker and current Dallas Mavericks assistant Jared Dudley and Cassell, according to league sources,” wrote Shams Charnia and Sam Amick.

With the 2024 NBA draft less than a week away, the Lakers can soon turn their full attention to upgrading a roster that is playoff-caliber but not championship-caliber.

Woike: Lakers could consider Scott Brooks as an assistant coach

The Lakers may end up having at least one assistant coach who has plenty of experience next season.

There are just over three weeks to go before the NBA draft, and while the Los Angeles Lakers don’t appear to be in any real rush to hire their next head coach, they don’t have all the time in the world.

Multiple reports have indicated that JJ Redick is a strong favorite to win the job. On the other hand, Los Angeles did call in James Borrego for a second interview a few days ago, and Adrian Wojnarowski has reported that the team is “nowhere close” to naming a head coach.

In addition, there have been reports about who the Lakers are looking at to possibly serve on the staff of their next head coach. Borrego could end up doing so if he doesn’t win the head coaching gig, as could Sam Cassell, former Lakers championship guard Rajon Rondo and Greg St. Jean, a former Lakers assistant under Frank Vogel.

Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times said while on the “Roggin and Rodney” show that one other name he has heard as a candidate is Scott Brooks (h/t Silver Screen and Roll).

“Scott Brooks is a name I’ve heard,” said Woike. “James Borrego is a name I’ve heard. Jared Dudley is a guy that has real close LeBron James ties and has obviously done a really good job in Dallas. Rajon Rondo is a name that I reported this week that got people in a tizzy a little bit on the internet as a player they could add to a coaching staff.”

Brooks has definitely been around the block a few times. He became a head coach for the first time early in the 2008-09 season when the Oklahoma City Thunder fired P.J. Carlesimo. With a younger Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook on his side, Brooks got the Thunder to the Western Conference Finals just two years later and the NBA Finals the following season.

He was fired in 2015, and he then began a five-season stint at the helm of the Washington Wizards during the 2016-17 campaign. He has been an assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers for the last three years.

If the Lakers do indeed hire Redick, they will need multiple assistants who have plenty of experience. Brooks would fit that description.

On this day: Stevens born; Brooks, McCarty trades; Timelord, Sam Jones, Tom Sanders debuts; Murphy passes

On this date, team president Brad Stevens was born, Scott Brooks and Walter McCarty were traded to the team and a number of Celtics made their debuts.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, current Boston Celtics team president Brad Stevens was born in Zionsville, Indiana in 1976. Stevens played collegiately for DePauw University while earning a degree in economics, earning Academic All-America honors three times and the All-Conference team as many times as well.

Stevens spent some time working as a pharmacy representative after college, then moved into coaching as a volunteer assistant with the Butler University men’s basketball program. It got him the job as a full-time assistant coach the next season, and he would be promoted to head coach of the Bulldogs in 2007.

Stevens quickly garnered national attention for the work he was doing at Butler, breaking the NCAA record for wins by a coach in their first three seasons while making the NCAA title game two seasons running in 2010 and 2011.

Nick Nurse and the 9 other most likely candidates the Rockets may consider to replace Stephen Silas

Could the Rockets have a reunion with James Harden? Are they going to draft Victor Wembanyama? Who will coach them?

The Houston Rockets have moved on from Stephen Silas as their head coach, and they have a pivotal decision to make for the future of their franchise.

While we don’t yet know who will take over for Silas next season, this may be one of the most enticing jobs available on the market. They have a very intriguing young core, including Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, and loads of usable cap space and draft assets as well.

Plus, they have among the highest odds to potentially win the lottery and select top prospect Victor Wembanyama in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Put all of that together, and Rockets executive Rafael Stone believes this is an “attractive” destination for head coaching candidates (via Rockets Wire):

“I think this is a very attractive situation,” Stone said at Monday’s press conference on the coaching change. “Based on my phone ringing today, I think a lot of other people do, too.”

Now that the Toronto Raptors have officially parted ways with Nick Nurse, his name will come up a lot in these conversations.

Here is more on Nurse and ten other intriguing candidates for Houston:

Rockets coaching search tracker: Frank Vogel interviews, Sam Cassell up next

Here’s our roundup of #Rockets coaching search news, headlined by an official interview of former Lakers coach Frank Vogel and a looming interview of Sam Cassell.

As their rebuild continues, the Houston Rockets are ready to move to the next phase, according to general manager Rafael Stone. And that phase will not include former head coach Stephen Silas.

As soon as the 2022-23 season ended for the Rockets (22-60) this week, Silas had the team option on his coaching contract declined for the 2023-24 campaign. That put Houston into the coaching market. Former Pacers, Magic and Lakers head coach Frank Vogel; former Celtics coach Ime Udoka; former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson; former Thunder and Wizards coach Scott Brooks; and current Raptors coach Nick Nurse are among the initial list of prospective candidates.

The Rockets are expected to put a premium on experience in this search, with a proven name potentially able to help their market appeal in a 2023 offseason when they have approximately $60 million in salary cap room — likely the most of any NBA team.

However, as Stone acknowledged in Monday’s press conference, the Rockets will likely interview candidates without prior head coaching experience as well. Houston’s third-year general manager expects the job to be quite attractive.

The team will not issue updates during its search, but tidbits from knowledgeable sources are likely to emerge. As of Thursday, here’s what we’ve learned about the process and the candidates involved, which could soon include Nurse, now that Toronto is eliminated from the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

Reports: Rockets targeting Ime Udoka, Kenny Atkinson, Frank Vogel, Nick Nurse as coach

With a premium placed on proven coaching experience, Ime Udoka, Kenny Atkinson, Frank Vogel, and Nick Nurse are among the top candidates to replace Stephen Silas. #Rockets

Shortly after the Houston Rockets (22-60) won Sunday’s 2022-23 season finale at Washington, one of the NBA’s worst-kept secrets became public knowledge: Stephen Silas is out as head coach.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski were among numerous national reporters to break the news.

Silas, who finished his Houston tenure with a 59-177 record (.250) and one of the league’s bottom-three records in each of his three seasons, will not have his team option picked up for the 2023-24 season. While the Rockets may have moved on from Silas, regardless of future financial obligations, the fact they were able to do so while not paying two coaches next season made it convenient timing.

“The Rockets believe a coaching change is necessary for the next stage in their multi-step process toward sustainable success, and are prioritizing a more established coach as the next hire,” Charania and colleague Kelly Iko wrote in The Athletic.

While Houston’s lowly records under Silas are largely a result of the franchise’s transition to extreme youth and a rebuilding emphasis following James Harden’s forced departure in January 2021, the reality is that as a first-time hire for the lead job, Silas has yet to prove himself a winning head coach in the NBA.

That made sense for the Rockets and general manager Rafael Stone when Silas was hired in October 2020, since at that time, Houston had a veteran roster led by two former MVPs in Harden and Russell Westbrook. They also had no salary cap room to use externally, so the primary focus was on maximizing internal resources.

But in 2023, with minimal proven talent and approximately $60 million in salary cap space this offseason, having an established coach could bolster Houston’s appeal on the market.

That’s likely why, per Wojnarowski, leading candidates for the job include Toronto’s Nick Nurse (should he decide to leave the Raptors) and Golden State assistant Kenny Atkinson, along with former Boston coach Ime Udoka and Frank Vogel of the Lakers. Each of those men has advanced to the NBA Finals within the past four years and has multiple years of NBA head coaching experience.

Scott Brooks, currently a lead assistant in Portland after a long run in Oklahoma City that included a trip to the 2012 NBA Finals (alongside potential Rockets free agency target James Harden), is also a candidate in Houston, per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Ex-Hornets coach James Borrego and Raptors assistant Adrian Griffin are among further possibilities, per Charania and Iko.

Here’s a look at what we know of Houston’s impending coaching search so far, along with early reaction to the news.