Interesting comments from Josh. So it's got to be Brian Randle then most likely.
Right?!
Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but Randle doesn't make much sense to me, at least not from his perspective. He's in his first season as an assistant coach with a very good, young Phoenix Suns team after a two year stint in Minnesota as a video coordinator in 2018-2019 and player development in 2019-2020. Why leap to your 4th different role in 4 years with your 3rd different team (Not to mention a change from NBA to college)? If his goal was to be a college coach, why not start there after retiring from playing in Europe? That being said, I think he'd be a solid addition.
Royal Ivey (Brooklyn Nets assistant coach) has made more sense to me since his name was brought up. It seems that he wants to coach college ball as Durant has petitioned Texas to hire him as their next head coach as recently as March (and was interviewed for the position prior to Chris Beard being hired). If Ivey is wanting a stepping stone college gig, I think Illinois would be a great spot for him to build his resume to eventually become a head coach. I know people don't like the idea of being a stepping stone, but as long as he sticks for 2+ years, I think Ivey would be a good get. Think of the recruiting pitch Ivey has, he's a good friend of Durant (played with and coached him), and I think a lot of the top 25 guys in the country model their game after Durant and look a lot like him when he was in high school/college. Durant was listed at 6'-9" and 190 lbs and could score at all 3 levels coming out of high school compare that to guys we've offered in the top 25 like JJ Taylor (6'-8", 185lbs, 2023), Kwame Evans (6'-8" 190lbs, 2023). I think having someone who's friends with Durant and has coached top guys at an NBA level (Harden, Irving, Durant, etc) would be a solid recruiting pitch.
That being said, it could be one of these two, either of which I think would be solid hires, or someone else completely. I just think Ivey makes more sense when viewing it from their perspectives and possible coaching aspirations based on what's been reported.
