Hawks nearing assistant coach deal with former Suns HC

The Hawks are nearing a deal to hire Igor Kokoskov as an assistant coach, league sources tell Marc Stein (Twitter link). Michael Scotto of HoopsHype was the first to link Kokoskov to Atlanta.

As Stein writes in his latest article at Substack, Kokoskov is expected to be the top assistant under head coach Quin Snyder, who was hired mid-season after Atlanta fired Nate McMillan. Kokoskov worked with Snyder for three years in Utah from 2015-18.

Kokoskov, who is Serbian and became a U.S. citizen in 2010, became the first head coach born and raised outside of North America when the Suns hired him in 2018-19. He was dismissed following the season after the club went 19-63.

The 51-year-old has extensive NBA experience, having served as an assistant coach for 20 years with the Clippers, Pistons, Suns, Cavs, Magic, Jazz, Kings, Mavericks, and most recently with the Nets in 2022-23. He’s known as a creative coach with an emphasis on player development.

In addition to his NBA coaching jobs, Kokoškov has been head coach of the Georgian, Slovenian and Serbian national teams, leading Slovenia to a EuroBasket gold medal in 2017. He also was the head coach of the Turkish club Fenerbahçe in 2020-21.