5 potential replacements for Scott Brooks as Wizards head coach

3. Sam Cassell

Sam Cassell has had his name floated around for multiple NBA head coaching vacancies over the last few years. Last year he interviewed for the LA Clippers job, and former teammates like Vernon Maxwell and Kendrick Perkins have publicly advocated for him to land head coaching jobs with the Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics.

While he was head coach of the Clippers, Doc Rivers argued for Cassell to get a job somewhere. Cassell is once again an assistant under Rivers in Philadelphia.

Sam Cassell has certainly been around long enough. He played 16 years in the NBA as a well-respected guard with a great feel for the floor.

After his retirement, his first gig in coaching was as an assistant on Flip Saunders’ staff in Washington. Rivers brought him to the Clippers in 2014 and he remained in Los Angeles until last fall when he followed the head coach to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Like the others, Cassell would be a first-time head coach, but he’s learned from respected and established names.