The San Antonio Spurs are sending away one familiar face – and also seeing the return of another.
Big changes are ahead for the Spurs, as the team faces an era that could be honestly quite hard to watch.
But even if things get rocky, at least some old friends will be there.
Brett Brown has agreed to return to San Antonio to join Gregg Popovich's staff as an assistant coach, sources tell ESPN. Brown spent 2007-2013 on Popovich's staff before becoming the 76ers coach. They’ve maintained a close relationship.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 30, 2022
Just one day after it was announced that San Antonio would trade away Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks, the Spurs announced that Brett Brown will return to the team as an assistant coach under Gregg Popovich.
Brown spent 2007 through 2013 as an assistant for San Antonio before he moved on to coach the Philadelphia 76ers for a few years.
He is returning to a Spurs team that might be entering a very rocky season.
Pop’s Replacement?
There is some speculation that Brown is being hired to become a possible successor for Popovich, who has been toying with the idea of retiring for years now.
If he’s going to hang it up, now could be the time.
That’s because after the Murray trade, the Spurs are lacking a lot.
They don’t have any big stars, their team is mostly untested (although young and healthy), and they are facing a very dominant Western Conference.
They are in a rebuilding phase and that means they are lining themselves up for many losses.
It will be a few years before the Spurs are close to great again and maybe by that time Brown will be leading them as head coach.
Or perhaps Popovich will shock us all and stick around for several more years.
He’s one of the greatest coaches of all time so you should never count Popovich out.
NEXT: Dejounte Murray Shares A Powerful Message To Spurs Fans