Portland Trail Blazers: Scott Brooks will make an excellent lead assistant
By Andy Quach
Scott Brooks has gotten the most out of his star players
Both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook won MVPs playing under Scott Brooks. Bradley Beal had the two best seasons of his life once Brooks took the reigns as head coach.
There’s no doubt that the coach can absolutely invoke the highest potential out of his franchise cornerstones.
While Brooks has failed to reach the pinnacle with those players, none of them have replicated their best season under him with any other coach.
In 2013-2014, Kevin Durant won his first MVP having averaged 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 5.5 assists while shooting 50 percent from the floor, 39 from behind the arc, and 87 from the line.
In Russell Westbrook’s 2016-2017 MVP season, he put up 31.6 points, grabbed 10.7 boards, and handed out 10.4 helpers per game, becoming the second-ever player to average a triple-double through the course of a season.
Bradley Beal last season, even with notorious “ball hog and stat-padder” Westbrook sharing his backcourt, finished second in the league in scoring with 31.3 points a night, while slashing 49/35/89. He also finished second in scoring behind James Harden the year prior and actually improved on his average this last year.
Damian Lillard will put up MVP-level numbers even if he’s coached by a clipboard laying on the ground. What’ll be worth monitoring is the kind of effect that Brooks has on CJ McCollum. The Washington Wizards underperformed in Brooks reunion season with Westbrook, but that certainly didn’t apply for the team’s superstar backcourt.
Let’s see if McCollum can also reach a career-high with Brooks on the sidelines.