Portland Trail Blazers hire Scott Brooks as assistant coach

The Portland Trail Blazers have finalized the first piece of the puzzle on new coach Chauncey Billups bench, by hiring ex-Washington Wizards and Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks.

NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski had the news, which I would expect to get finalized in the next few days.

After the controversy of Billups hiring and his relative inexperience as a head coach, it’s great to see that someone with significant head coaching experience has been added to the Blazers bench. This is a strong step for the organization as they look to make some additions to the coaching staff that reflects well publicly, as well as giving them some real strength in elevating their post-season record and improving the defense.

Brooks was recently fired by the Wizards after five middling seasons, then before that, he spent seven seasons with the Thunder, where he helped developed talents such as Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.

Interestingly, Brooks defensive record has been up and down, with just three top ten defenses in the twelve years he was a head coach in the league. Without knowing a massive amount about his defensive style, Brooks defensive record was stronger when he had great defenders in OKC.

Brooks seems to be more of an offensive coach, so it will be interesting to see how he molds with Billups, who has already preached a style of accountability overall for the team, on both ends of the court. Billups will still need to add other coaches to his bench and to the development staff, but for a start, this is a solid move.