Monty Williams, Suns announce 2019-20 coaching staff

Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams has filled out his coaching staff with a diverse group of assistants.

The first-year Suns coach confirmed on The Outlet podcast with Lindsey Smith that his assistants include recent NBA players Willie Green, Steve Blake and Mark Bryant, plus former Oklahoma City assistant Darko Rajakovic, former Brooklyn scout Randy Ayers and former Arizona State assistant Larry Greer.

Among other notable additions to the Suns are Gonzaga coordinator of basketball analytics and video operations Riccardo Fois, who is the team’s new player development coach. He is joined by Ben Strong, who was on the player development staff in Philadelphia last season.

Phoenix named Ryan Frazier, a former video/player development assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks, as the head video coordinator.

Additionally, according to the team’s staff directory, it appears former Memphis Grizzlies (2018-19) and Minnesota Timberwolves (2010-18) trainer David Crewe has replaced longtime predecessor Aaron Nelson as the team’s head athletic trainer. Nelson was lured from Phoenix to New Orleans by former Suns executive David Griffin, the Pelicans’ new general manager.

Rajakovic coached overseas before joining the Tulsa 66ers in the D-League from 2012-14. He was promoted to the Thunder staff in 2014 under then head coach Scott Brooks and worked with Williams under current Oklahoma City head coach Billy Donovan in 2015-16.

Green, who spent 12 years in the NBA, played under Williams in New Orleans during the 2010-11 season. Green spent his first seven seasons in Philadelphia before joining the Hornets and then played for the Hawks and Clippers before ending his career with the Magic.

In August of 2016, Green was added to Steve Kerr’s staff in Golden State. Green just finished his third season coaching for the Warriors.

Ayers is most well-known for his eight seasons coaching Ohio State basketball, in which he led the Buckeyes to two NCAA Tournament appearances, including Sweet 16 and Elite Eight berths. He served as the 76ers head coach for 52 games during the 2003-04 season and was most recently a scout for the Brooklyn Nets.

Ayers coached under Williams in New Orleans during two different stints from 2010-15. Prior to that, Ayers coached Williams, a former player, as an assistant and then head coach in Philadelphia from 2002-03.

A sharp-shooter during his career, Blake was hired by the Trail Blazers as a coaching intern in 2017, the same team which he had three stints with throughout his playing days. He started in the coaching ranks after retiring from the Sydney Kings in Australia’s NBL. His position with the Suns will be Blake’s first full-time coaching job.

Blake played for eight teams in 13 seasons in the NBA, last appearing in a Detroit Pistons uniform during the 2016-17 season.

Bryant, who played for Phoenix from 1996-99, was a teammate of Williams’ on the Sixers in part of the 2002 season and crossed paths with Williams on the Thunder. He had been an assistant with the Oklahoma City franchise since 2007, when it was in Seattle.

Greer served as an assistant coach for the Minnesota Timberwolves last season and previously was a scout for the T-Wolves. He has NBA assistant stops with Houston (2005-07), Portland (2007-12) and Oklahoma City (2015-17). Between his Blazers and Thunder stints, Greer was an assistant at Arizona State.

Williams was hired on May 3 by the Suns to replace the fired Igor Kokoskov, who lasted only one season in Phoenix and produced a 19-63 record.

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