While the free places on the benches are slowly starting to find takers, the Wizards are still looking for Scott Brooks’ successor. So far, few names had leaked in the capital, but that of Sam Cassell – faithful assistant to Doc Rivers – has just been released.
Among the former playmakers who have become assistants in the NBA and today in the race to become a head coach, thank you for welcoming Sam Cassell. Like Chauncey Billups in the West with Portland, Cassell reportedly among very serious candidates to take on the Wizards’ head coach job if we are to believe the information of Brian Windhorst ofESPN, in his podcast The Hoop Collective. This is not the first time that Sam I Am has found himself in rumors to take a seat on an NBA bench. This was already the case last year after the Clippers choke in the Western Conference semifinals in Mickey’s bubble. He was particularly tipped to the Rockets, a franchise he knows quite well since two of his NBA rings come from his years as a player in Houston in the mid-1990s, but he finally decided to follow Doc Rivers, who moved from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. Today, history is repeating itself in a rather creepy way. New choke with the Doc at the Sixers, new opportunity to take the plunge for Sam, so now might be the right time to stand on its own two feet. Qualified for the Playoffs this year behind the exploits of Scott Brooks Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal, the Wizards have talent and can feed some ambitions. Perhaps this is the opportunity it takes for Cassell to step out of his assistant costume.
It would be a homecoming for Sam Cassell, who had started his post-career in the capital. In 2009, just after hanging up the sneakers, he headed to Washington DC to find his former Wolves coach, Flip Saunders. Cassell spent five seasons with the Wizards as an assistant coach before taking charge of the Clippers. Enough to build some relationships. Now, you should also know that Sam Cassell is not the only candidate who could potentially take a seat on the Washington bench. Still according to Brian Windhorst, Wes Unseld Jr. is also said to be one of the favorites to succeed Scott Brooks. The son of Wes Unseld, a legend who played and coached in Washington, is currently an assistant in Denver on the staff of Michael Malone. Like Sam Cassell, he never held a position of NBA head coach. And like Sam Cassell, he’s been through Washington before. First scout for his dad, general manager of the Wizards in the late 1990s, Wes Unseld Jr. became assistant coach in 2005, a position he held until 2011, before moving to Golden State, Orlando, then Denver. The real difference between Cassell and Unseld Jr. is that the former has a real playing career behind him, which is quite popular in the NBA world today. Will that tip the scales in Sam’s favor? The future will tell.
Things are becoming clearer on the Washington side. Sam Cassell and Wes Unseld Jr. seem to be the two main candidates today to take over Scott Brooks’ job. You are never safe from seeing another name appear out of nowhere, but one of them could finally have their first experience at the head of an NBA team.
Text source: ESPN
