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Adrian Wojnarowski: Clippers assistant Dan Craig is joining Billy Donovan’s Chicago Bulls coaching staff, sources tell ESPN. Craig spent the past four years with Ty Lue and the previous four under Erik Spoelstra with the Heat. He’ll team with Wes Unseld Jr., as top assistants for Chicago. pic.twitter.com/60161hJDvf
Bulls hire Wes Unseld Jr as top assistant coach
Adrian Wojnarowski: ESPN Sources: Wes Unseld Jr., has agreed to join the Chicago Bulls as Billy Donovan’s top assistant coach. Unseld Jr. spent the past two-plus seasons as the Wizards head coach after six years on Michael Malone’s Denver staff.
Adam Mares: Former Nuggets assistant Wes Unseld Jr is in attendance for Nuggets practice today
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Jeff Peterson’s former Nets will conduct a search at year’s end after parting ways with Jacque Vaughn midseason. The same goes for Washington after the Wizards elevated former play caller Wes Unseld Jr. into their front office, and interim head coach Brian Keefe is considered to hold a strong candidacy for the full-time position, according to league sources.
Kyle Kuzma said the team has benefitted in recent days from Keefe’s attention to detail — and also from knowing that their poor play led to Wes Unseld Jr. losing his coaching job. “It’s like more of a wake-up call than anything: understanding that when a change happens, there’s a reason why it changed,” Kuzma said. “I think everybody is coming together and trying to finish the year off strong. I think you guys (in the media) are seeing it just with the togetherness and just how we’re competing on a night-to-night basis the past three games.”
No single moment, no single loss prompted Washington Wizards executives to remove Wes Unseld Jr. as their head coach Thursday. The decision occurred because of an unmistakable pattern this season. Although many players made individual improvements, the team as a whole continued to struggle, with precious few exceptions. The defense looked inept. Players’ efforts often lagged. The same mistakes recurred game after game. And through it all, Unseld made no changes to the starting lineup when players were healthy and did not cut the minutes of underperforming rotation players.
The Wizards won only seven of their 43 games this season under Unseld, but the tipping point wasn’t the sheer number of losses. It was more about how they lost most of those games. Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and Wizards general manager Will Dawkins could not envision things improving this season if Unseld remained as the coach. “It sort of became clearer that there was just this sustained something less than our most competitive selves,” Winger said during a news conference. “You just kept feeling it and seeing it, and Wes did, too. I mean, he saw it. He knew it. He felt it. And he gave it everything he had.”
Tim Bontemps: Michael Malone says it’s unfortunate Wes Unseld never got to coach the team he interviewed for, which was supposed to be with both Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. Westbrook was traded before Unseld’s first season, and Beal played a combined 90 games the last two seasons.
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Tim Bontemps: Michael Malone says it’s unfortunate Wes Unseld Jr never got to coach the team he interviewed for, which was supposed to be with both Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal. Westbrook was traded before Unseld’s first season, and Beal played a combined 90 games the last two seasons.
Josh Robbins: Michael Winger at today's news conf.: "We're a better organization because of Wes. Our players are individually better because of Wes. In the six or seven months that Will [Dawkins] and I have been here, we're better because of Wes. And I'm really grateful that he was here."
Josh Robbins: Michael Winger at a news conference: "It sort of became clearer that there was this sustained something less than our most competitive selves. You just kept feeling it and seeing it, and Wes did, too. I mean, he saw it. He knew it. He felt it. And he gave it everything he had."
Wes Unseld Jr. out as Wizards coach
Jeff Zillgitt: Wizards move Wes Unseld Jr. to front office advisory role and will name an interim coach today and search for replacement in the offseason, team says in statement: pic.twitter.com/VmdxxooEnW
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