One week after reportedly reaching an agreement to hire Brooklyn’s Royal Ivey, the complete group of assistants to new Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka is taking shape.
With Boston now out of the 2023 playoffs, Udoka is ready to hire Celtics assistants Ben Sullivan, Aaron Miles and Mike Moser for his new staff in Houston, per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. All three worked for Udoka when he coached the Celtics during the 2021-22 season, which concluded with Boston reaching the NBA Finals (which they did not do this season, in Udoka’s absence).
Miles is 40 years old, while Sullivan is 39 and Moser is 32. It appears Udoka, 45, prefers a young and energetic staff, based on those additions and the recent deal with Ivey, 41.
Sullivan is known in the NBA as something of a “shooting guru,” having boosted results for players such as Boston’s Derrick White.
"According to an NBA source, assistants Ben Sullivan, Aaron Miles, and Mike Moser are expected to join Ime Udoka’s staff in Houston, leaving three or more openings on Mazzulla’s staff." #Rockets https://t.co/nsPRf97MeA
— Chris A. White 🐻 (@fyrebear) May 31, 2023
Sullivan and Udoka are believed to have a close relationship, according to Ari Alexander of KPRC, Houston’s NBC affiliate.
“Both grew up in the Portland, Oregon, area and are connected through the Spurs, where Sullivan was a video coordinator thanks to a suggestion from Udoka,” Alexander recently wrote. “Udoka and Sullivan’s previous boss, Mike Budenholzer, both coached under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio, and Udoka hired Sullivan away from Budenholzer’s Milwaukee Bucks staff. Sullivan is in a good situation with the Celtics, but he is an intriguing name to watch, based on that relationship.”
As for Miles, he worked as a Warriors player development coach from 2019 until 2021, which is when Udoka hired him as a Celtics assistant. He was a college point guard at Kansas from 2001 to 2005 before a lengthy professional career, which included several international stops and a brief stint in Golden State (2005-06).
Moser played internationally from 2014 through 2019 before beginning his assistant coaching career in 2019 with the Dallas Mavericks in player development and analytics. Last July, he was hired by Udoka as a player enhancement coach with the Celtics.
There is no set timetable for Udoka and the Rockets to name the complete staff. The team’s next basketball activities will not come until late June, which is when recently drafted players will take part in a minicamp to prepare for the NBA’s 2023 summer league in July.
