The trend of bringing on veteran NBA coaches to take part in a staff that’s being led by an inexperienced head coach took on a new meaning on Wednesday.
According to Yahoo Sports NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Oklahoma City Thunder have hired former New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams to be the team’s top assistant under first-year head coach Billy Donovan.
This is a pretty big coup for Donovan, who has absolutely zero experience as a coach in the Association. Williams is coming off a five-year stint as the New Orleans Pelicans coach that saw him lead the team to two playoff experiences. Prior to that, Williams served as an assistant for the Portland Trail Blazers for six seasons. Needless to say, there’s the necessary experience here to help Donovan make the transition from college ball.
According to Wojnarowski, Donovan will keep assistants Mark Bryant and Darko Rajakovic on the staff from the Scott Brooks regime. He’s also reportedly set to bring in former Alabama head coach Anthony Grant to join the staff.
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