Dave Joerger was fired at the end of the season, after being eliminated from the Playoffs in the 1st round vs. the Spurs. Heat Assistant Coach David Fizdale was hired shortly after. He began his hunt for other coaches around the league to help him out in his first year as a Head Coach in Memphis.
Fizdale hired Former Rockets Head Coach J.B Bickerstaff to add along side Former NBA player Nick Van Exel. Now we have learned that he has hired former Heat Assistant Coach Keith Smart. According to Marc Stein of ESPN:
Coaching sources tell @MarcjSpearsESPN and I that Heat assistant Keith Smart is bound for Memphis to join David Fizdale with the Grizzlies.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) 10 June 2016
Smart played for the San Antonio Spurs in 1988 before moving on to play in South America and Europe. Smart then started off his coaching career as an assistant with the Cavaliers in 2003, before coming back to the NBA as an assistant with the Warriors in 2010, and with Sacramento in 2011 and 2012. With Fizdale being a first year NBA Head Coach, he has brought in experienced coaches to help him with the duties at hand in Memphis. The Grizzlies have put themselves in a weird position for this offseason, with Marc Gasol set to return from an leg injury, but free agent Mike Conley might not be returning to the squad. In what seems like an offseason that could go either very badly or very good for this Grizzlies team, Fizdale has to prepare for both situations. Bickerstaff, Van Exel, and Smart will be there in the trenches with Fizdale for whatever happens.