The Wizards have had their new head coach Scott Brooks for awhile. He has been spotted with key players like Marcin Gortat and even abroad with Tomas Satoransky. Now, Brooks is making moves to get his coaching staff into place.
According to ESPN's Marc Stein, Brooks is recruiting Toronto Raptors assistant coach Rex Kalamian to be part of his staff in Washington. This is in addition to the Houston Rockets, who hired Mike D'Antoni as their head coach last week:
Mike D'Antoni and Scotty Brooks, new to Houston and Washington, have been recruiting Kalamian hard, with Dwane Casey determined to keep him
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) June 4, 2016
Kalamian has had a long history with Brooks, where he was on the Oklahoma City Thunder's coaching staff from 2009-2015. Along the way, he had a chance to develop and work alongside Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden during their formative years.
As mentioned previously, he was with the Raptors this past season and helped them make the 2015 Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. It currently remains to be seen as to whether Kalamian will remain in Toronto or take his talents down south of the Canadian border. If he does, Kalamian will get a chance to work with an old colleague once again in Washington or work with one of his former players in Houston.
If I had to flip a coin, Kalamian would go to Washington simply because he was interviewed for the Rockets head coaching position and was ultimately passed over. Given that D'Antoni is an experienced NBA head coach, hiring Kalamian wouldn't be like the Cleveland Cavaliers hiring Tyronn Lue as David Blatt's top assistant in 2014 if you know what I mean.