The NBA's head coaching carousel came to a close Monday with the Denver Nuggets reportedly hiring Mike Malone, oddly shifting the focus to an interesting assistant coach carousel.
The movement of assistants doesn't often grab headlines, but the sideline shake-ups have been particularly interesting so far this year. The latest has former Chicago Bulls head coach Scott Skiles plucking one of his former players from the Bulls' sideline, with Adrian Griffin jumping to the Orlando Magic as a Skiles' assistant, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
The move had been expected over the weekend, with a resultant move - former interim Magic head coach James Borrego joining the San Antonio Spurs - expected. That would make this a de facto three-way trade, as the Spurs lost assistant Jim Boylen to the Bulls last week, too.
Griffin's move seems to have a lot to do with his relationship with Skiles, and it's possible he was disappointed the Bulls hired Fred Hoiberg as Tom Thibodeau's replacement. Griffin was believed to be well-liked in the organization and was thought to be a candidate for the position, but with Hoiberg bringing in Boylen as his right-hand man, a change of scenery may have been the best way for Griffin to stay on the precipice of a head coaching opportunity.
These moves are important behind-the-scenes as teams look to rebuild their strategy and culture, but to outsiders it mostly just serves to confuse who is on which bench to start next season.
