Previous reports indicated Houston’s John Lucas and Mahmoud Abdelfattah, along with Boston’s Ben Sullivan, could be among the pool of assistants being considered for the staff of new Rockets head coach Ime Udoka.
Now, new reporting by HoopsHype’s NBA insider Michael Scotto indicates Sullivan and two other assistants with previous links to Udoka — Aaron Miles from the Celtics, where Udoka was the head coach in 2021-22, and Royal Ivey of the Brooklyn Nets, where Udoka was an assistant in the 2020-21 season — could be in play.
While the Rockets will look to reunite with (James) Harden in free agency, Houston is preparing to target potential assistant coaches to join Ime Udoka’s staff.
Keep an eye on Celtics assistant coaches Aaron Miles and Ben Sullivan and Nets assistant coach Royal Ivey to be courted by the Rockets as candidates for Udoka’s staff, league sources told HoopsHype.
Udoka and Ivey spent time together as assistants in Brooklyn during the 2020-21 season, while Miles and Sullivan were assistants on Udoka’s staff in Boston a year later.
Ivey is 41 years old, while Miles is 40 and Sullivan is 39.
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— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) May 16, 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 writes. “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 currently in a good situation with the Celtics but is an intriguing name to watch, based on the 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).
Ivey has ties to Texas, having played in college at the University of Texas from 2000 through 2004. A defensive-minded guard, Ivey played for four NBA teams over an 11-year playing career before transitioning to coaching in 2014. Since then, he’s worked as an assistant for the Nets, New York Knicks, and Oklahoma City Thunder.
There is no set timetable for Udoka to name his full staff for the 2023-24 season. However, an assistant typically leads Houston’s squad at the NBA Summer League, and practices for those begin shortly after the NBA’s draft night. This year, the draft is on June 22, so expect at least some members of Udoka’s staff to be known by then.
