The Thunder are bringing on board long-serving Spurs assistant coach Chip Engelland as an assistant to Mark Daigneault’s coaching staff, as confirmed by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
Having spent the past 17 years in San Antonio under the guidance of Gregg Popovich, Engelland originally ventured into coaching as a shooting consultant with the Pistons (1999-2000) before transitioning into a player development role with the Nuggets (2003-05).
According to Wojnarowski, Engelland is widely regarded as the premier shooting instructor in the NBA and is believed to have made a considerable impact on players such as Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard throughout his tenure with the Spurs. He shares a preexisting connection with Thunder head of basketball operations Sam Presti, who was previously part of San Antonio’s front office.
As noted by Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report in a recent tweet, Engelland will be departing the Spurs “at the culmination of his current contract” — although details were not explicit, it appears that Engelland’s contract concluded this offseason, paving the way for him to embrace a new role in Oklahoma City.
The Spurs and Engelland, a long-time highly-paid assistant in the NBA, could not reach an agreement on a fresh contract, according to Wojnarowski.
In his upcoming position, Engelland will have the chance to collaborate with a promising group of young talent within the Thunder, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren, Luguentz Dort, Jalen Williams, and Ousmane Dieng, among others.
Image Source: nba_korea_bball @ Instagram
