On Wednesday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Los Angeles Lakers have hired Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks as assistant coaches.
ESPN Sources: The Los Angeles Lakers are hiring Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks as top assistant coaches on JJ Redick’s new staff. Redick gets two longtime head coaches with a combined 1,189 victories to surround him. pic.twitter.com/zRtTNlroFp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2024
McMillan is known as a defensive specialist. As an NBA head coach, he has overseen 1428 regular-season games and 76 postseason games. He has led the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers and Atlanta Hawks.
Brooks is a player development specialist who has also patrolled the sidelines as the head coach of the NBA rosters. He has led the Oklahoma City Thunder and Washington Wizards, compiling 935 regular-season games and 97 postseason games in his career.
For his part, new Lakers lead JJ Redick is a rookie head coach. He has never taken charge of a professional basketball roster before. However, he's been entrusted to help lead the Lakers back to relevancy and – potentially – a championship. Adding two highly experienced former head coaches to his staff is a great way to ensure he has the necessary experience to lean on throughout the season.
McMillan and Brooks can offer guidance, opinions and even be consulted on game strategy such as minutes distribution and substitution patterns. As former head coaches, they understand what comes with Redick's position. Rob Pelinka has made a strategic move to empower Redick with an intelligent and experienced backroom staff.
McMillan's addition will undoubtedly ease Redick's burden of constructing a reliable and versatile defensive system. Brooks will help nurture the younger talents on the roster and could provide a boost to help Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt all take development steps forward.
Redick now has a talented coaching staff, which has somewhat nullified his inexperience. Pelinka and the front office will hope that Redick can hit the ground running. Otherwise, the bright lights will rapidly intensify, and questions surrounding their coaching search will resurface.