Los Angeles Lakers coach JJ Redick may be new to the profession, but the team will not have an inexperienced coaching staff next season. The Lakers are hiring Scott Brooks and Nate McMillan as assistant coaches, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday. Both are former NBA head coaches.
Brooks helped Chauncey Billups make the transition to head coach with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2021. Before his three-year stint in Portland, Brooks was the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder from 2008 to 2015 and the Washington Wizards from 2016 to 2021.
McMillan most recently was the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks from 2020 to 2023. Before that, he was the head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 2016 to 2020, the Portland Trail Blazers from 2005 to 2012 and the Seattle SuperSonics from 2000 to 2005. In every instance except Portland, he was promoted from assistant coach.
“Clearly leaning into experience with the front-of-the-bench coaches and finding hopefully a couple guys that are former head coaches, I think, is going to set JJ up for support,” Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka said at Redick’s introductory press conference. “And at the end of the day, that’s what we’re most interested in doing is [making] sure we help him select and build a staff that sets him and the team up for success.”
On Tuesday, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that Dwane Casey (who is currently in the Detroit Pistons‘ front office) had taken himself out of consideration for a spot on Redick’s staff. Casey was the Pistons’ head coach from 2018 to 2023, following seven years as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors.
Other names that have have been linked to Los Angeles include Jared Dudley (who is currently an assistant coach with the Dallas Mavericks and Rajon Rondo, both of whom played for the Lakers relatively recently.
