Advocate Center training offices have not remained vacant for long.
After weeks of purging most of the staff – Chris Fleming remained in his sole position – new coach Billy Donovan got a specific flavor from Oklahoma City on Monday, adding Morris Chicks of Chicago and former Thunder and Bucks coach Josh Longstaff.
Former 76ers assistant coach John Bryant was reportedly appointed last week, although he was not given a specific title.
The cheeks were no surprise, as he played Donovan’s right-hand man throughout his tenure with Thunder. Longstaff has worked at OKC, but also with Knicks, and most recently Milwaukee.
Longstaff has a reputation for having the “players first” mentality that Donovan and Executive Vice President Basketball Operations Arturas Karnsofas preached about, but that’s the big prize.
Yes, a former elite defensive goalkeeper brings experience on the field, but Cheeks has also been a head coach in Portland, Philadelphia and Detroit, as well as serving as an assistant for Thunder and the 76ers.
The 64-year-old Cheeks made his name in Chicago as a landmark for DuSable High School, before heading to West Texas A&M, where he was a player at the All-Missouri Valley Conference for three consecutive seasons.
He was recruited into the second round [36th overall] From Philadelphia, and helped them win the 1993 NBA Finals. Cheeks was a four-time All-Star, four-time All-Defensive First Teamer, and his number 10 retired 76ers.
If the Bulls decide to keep Kris Dunn in the mix, Cheeks could be a mentor to the defensive goalkeeper. But even without Dan, he expected Kobe White to have an immediate mentor to grow him into the position, and he believed the entire list got better defensively.
Last month, Donovan came on board and fired his assistants Roy Rogers, Dean Cooper, Nate Lonser, and Karen Stack Umlauf.
