The Oklahoma City Thunder may be looking in a very familiar direction for an assistant coach this offseason. There have been NBA rumblings of Mo Cheeks making his return, hopefuls that maybe even defensive guru Tom Thibs would journey to OKC, maybe even the new Florida Gator coach would bring someone from his personal staff. None of that however is the news that came out of the Peake last night.
Rumors surfaced that OKC was currently in negotiations with former Pelicans coach Monty Williams to become the lead assistant. Williams coming off a successful year where without their second best player (Jrue Holiday) was lead all the way to the playoffs, only to make a quick exit to the Western Conference Champion Golden State Warriors.
Monty Williams is a graduate from Notre Dame and played 10 seasons in the NBA (94-2003) and was an assistant at Portland before becoming the head man for the Pelicans. In a shocking move the Pelicans went away from Monty Williams for a name that has not been released yet. Williams has shown the ability to develop players at a shocking level. Anthony Davis is the obvious example but also the ability to get growth from Jrue Holiday and even former "team cancer" Tyreke Evans.
Williams has been labeled as a players coach and it is widely known that Anthony Davis had become very fond of the former Irish Small Forward. Williams also adds a great deal to an NBA defense, with his teams finishing in the top 15 in all of his seasons as the head guy.
It should be known that more than likely this is not a long time employment choice for Williams but more of a buffering period until another team bites on giving Monty another chance. This could however be the best news for OKC's new man Billy Donovan.
Adding an experienced successful head coach on the bench could contribute a lot of success and knowledge at the NBA level that Donovan lacks. This is the best coaching hire the Thunder possibly could of made for the head assistant job.
We all kind of knew this past season Williams wasn't really a Pelican. He was secretly wanting to wear that Thunder Blue.
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