Sonics To Announce New Assistants

Nearly two months after naming a head coach, the Sonics will announce Thursday the completed coaching staff that will work under P.J. Carlesimo.

According to club sources, the Sonics will name former NBA guard Scott Brooks, former NBA forward Mark Bryant and returning Sonics assistant coach Ralph Lewis to Carlesimo's staff.

The team also will name former San Antonio Spurs assistant video coordinator Brian Keefe to the staff as a player development coach, while former NBA guard and scout Gerald Madkins will join the Sonics in a player development role.

Brooks, 42, spent the 2006-07 season as an assistant for the Sacramento Kings on Eric Musselman's staff after three years as a Denver Nuggets assistant. The former spark-plug point guard played parts of 10 NBA seasons with Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, New York and Cleveland. He averaged 4.9 points and 2.4 assists in 680 games.

Brooks interviewed with general manager Sam Presti for the Sonics' coaching position in June, and apparently impressed enough during the process to be one of Presti's first choices for Carlesimo's staff. He was Musselman's top assistant in Sacramento, and is considered a standout strategist.

Bryant, 42, played parts of 15 seasons with 10 teams, including his first seven with Portland. He played for Carlesimo during Carlesimo's coaching stint with the Trail Blazers and also at Seton Hall, where he was an All-Big East forward in 1988.

Bryant was an assistant in Orlando during the 2005-06 season and spent a season with the Dallas Mavericks as a member of their player development staff. Bryant is the former NBA player Carlesimo had been looking for to relate with the Sonics' younger core.

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source : seattlepi.nwsource.com