New Thunder head coach Billy Donovan has started the process of building out his staff. Following a recent report that newly unemployed former Pelicans coach Monty Williams is a target to be an assistant in Oklahoma City, Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski has added another name to the list of candidates: Maurice Cheeks.
Yahoo Sources: Another ex-head coach and past Oklahoma City assistant emerging as a possible candidate for Billy Donovan’s staff: Mo Cheeks.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 17, 2015
Cheeks was most recently seen in Detroit, where he was fired as head coach of the Pistons partway through the 2013-14 season. He’s also been a head coach in Philadelphia and Portland, and he served as an assistant in Oklahoma City under Scott Brooks from 2009 to 2013, so there’s a familiarity within the organization. Given that Donovan has never coached at the NBA level before, it makes sense that he’s targeting NBA lifers like Cheeks and Williams to help with his transition.