Washington Wizards GM Ernie Grunfield is meeting with former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical:
Sources: Washington GM Ernie Grunfeld is meeting with Scott Brooks in California now, pushing to close on a coaching deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) April 20, 2016
It was previously reported that the two parties would be meeting next week, but the scheduling of that meeting appears to have been bumped up.
Brooks is a highly sought after head coaching candidate, along with Jeff Van Gundy, Luke Walton, and Tom Thibodeau –who inked a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves today.
Scott Brooks has been linked to several teams, but the Wizards seem to be the clear favorites. Other teams linked to Brooks in reports include the Lakers, Rockets, Kings, and Timberwolves(although the Timberwolves position has now been filled).
Brooks, who coached a group of very talented young players(Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden) at his previous job in OKC, has a reputation as a developer of young talent. For this reason, many thought that he would wind up in Minnesota. Instead, Thibodeau did. Brooks was known for running very simple, predictable, iso-heavy offensive sets in OKC. Hopefully he won’t bring that to the Wizards, a team that doesn’t have players like Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook to dominate in isolation.
Another factor here, one that the Wizards likely have in mind, is that Scott Brooks once coached Kevin Durant, and could be helpful in persuading the superstar to sign with Washington this offseason.
