With former Los Angeles Lakers head coach Frank Vogel taking over the Phoenix Suns job, it was inevitable that he would take some of his former staff members with him.
There were only a few holdovers from Vogel’s staff that remained with the organization after Darvin Ham was hired, two of them being Jon Pastorek and Miles Simon.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Pastorek, who specialized in player development, would be joining Vogel in Phoenix. Now, it looks like Simon will be joining him as well, per Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report:
Phoenix Suns are adding South Bay Lakers head coach Miles Simon and John Lucas III to the coaching staff of Frank Vogel, league sources tell @NBAonTNT, @BleacherReport. pic.twitter.com/J4SZk6FMgo
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 18, 2023
John Lucas III is also a former Lakers assistant under Vogel, although he was not kept on this past season under Ham.
Simon began working as an assistant with the Lakers in 2017 and for the last two seasons served as the head coach for the G League South Bay Lakers. It remains to be seen what his role will be in Phoenix on Vogel’s staff, but he is another player development specialist that is used to working with young players so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him work in a similar capacity as he did with the Lakers.
With Pastorek and Simon gone though, Ham will have two members of his staff replace including the head coach of South Bay. The draft and free agency are just around the corner, so the Lakers likely won’t waste much time filling those positions.
Davis praises Ham for positive attitude
Ham’s first season leading the Lakers got off to a rough start as they began the season 2-10. The head coach kept a positive attitude though, and the Lakers were able to dig themselves out of a hole to make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
Even though the season didn’t end with a championship, Anthony Davis expressed appreciation to Ham for maintaining a positive outlook through it all.
“Yeah, he always remained positive, no matter what,” Davis said during his exit interview. “Even in the rough patches, he always preached positive, positivity. You know, make sure that we understood that it was a long season, and you don’t find that in a lot of coaches, especially a first-year coach, first-year head coach.”
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