PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers are finalizing a contract with former NBA Coach of the Year Scott Brooks to be the lead assistant to head coach Chauncey Billups, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Friday morning.
In Brooks, the Blazers are getting an experienced former head coach who led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA finals in 2012. Brooks was most recently the head coach of the Washington Wizards. At the conclusion of the 2020-21 season, the Wizards opted not to renew Brooks' contract. After the season, Brooks interviewed with the Los Angeles Lakers for a spot on Frank Vogel's coaching staff before agreeing to join the Blazers.
In 12 seasons as an NBA head coach with the Thunder and Wizards, Brooks has a record of 521-414 (.557) in the regular season and 49-48 (.505) in the playoffs.
On Thursday, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Brooks and former head coaches Lionel Hollins and Vinny Del Negro were the candidates for the role of lead assistant with the Blazers. All three were former NBA guards who went on to experience success as head coaches in the league.
RELATED: Report: Candidates for Blazers' lead assistant include Lionel Hollins, Scott Brooks, Vinny Del Negro
Brooks played point guard for six different NBA teams over 10 seasons from 1988 to 1998, averaging 4.9 points and 2.4 assists.
From 2003 to 2008, Brooks was an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets, Seattle Supersonics and Oklahoma City Thunder from 2003 to 2008. Brooks was promoted to interim head coach with the Thunder in 2008 and then hired as the Thunder's head coach in 2009.
With the Thunder, Brooks had a 338-207 record (.620) in the regular season and a 39-34 record (.534) in the playoffs over six-plus seasons. He was named NBA Coach of the Year after the 2009-10 season and he led the Thunder to the NBA finals in 2012, where they lost to the Miami Heat. Brooks was fired by the Thunder after the 2015 season.
Brooks was hired by the Washington Wizards in 2016. He had a losing record of 183-207 (.469) over five seasons with the Wizards. Washington decided not to renew his contract after this past season.
