Sixers head coaching candidates: Sam Cassell
I’m not going to lie, Sam Cassell was one of my favorite players in the mid-2000’s when I first started watching basketball. He had a high basketball I.Q. and was a legit point guard. He’s an accomplished player and has learned from some coaching legends.
“It also helps that he has a strong connection Brand, who were teammates on the Clippers for two-and-half seasons.”
As a player, Cassell won three titles, two with the Rockets and one with the Celtics. He also made one All-Star game and one All-NBA third team. He has career averages of 15.7 points, 6.0 assists, and 1.2 steals, while converting 45.4 percent of his field goals and 33.1 percent of his 3-pointers. He played for the Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks, Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, and Boston Celtics.
He’s worked for three coaches as an assistant. He started out as an assistant for his former coach the late great Flip Saunders with the Washington Wizards. Then stayed two seasons after Saunders left and worked under Randy Wittman. After that, he joined another former coach Doc Rivers in Los Angeles coaching the Clippers.
He’s been on Doc’s staff since and the Clippers have enjoyed their two best eras of basketball in franchise history. It seems like it’s only a matter of time before Cassell gets a head coaching job based on his resume as a player and assistant.
He appears to be a good person to take over Brown’s job if the Philadelphia 76ers believe they need to move on from Brown. It also helps that he has a strong connection Brand, who were teammates on the Clippers for two-and-half seasons.