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.
