The Boston Celtics could be on the verge of losing another assistant coach, as Sam Cassell has become a legitimate head coach candidate around the NBA.

It’s worth mentioning that Boston has lost two assistant coaches over the last two seasons to become head coaches— Damon Stoudamire (Georgia Tech) and Charles Lee, who agreed on a four-year deal with the Charlotte Hornets.

In his latest column, Marc Stein reports that Cassell is a “legitimate candidate to watch” for the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching position.

“Cassell is a legitimate candidate to watch here, league sources say. He is not only represented by Klutch Sports — which is the same agency, of course, that represents Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis — but Cassell is known to have a particularly good knack in the locker room when it comes to connecting with star players. As with Ham when the Lakers hired him, Cassell is also long overdue to get a head coaching shot. It is frankly surprising (and ridiculous) that it hasn’t happened yet.”

Stein also mentions that Cassell could join the Milwaukee Bucks to rejoin with his longtime coaching partner, Doc Rivers.

“Also circulating in Chicago: League sources say Rivers plans to make an aggressive push to bring Cassell onto his staff in Milwaukee if the former three-time NBA ring-winner as a player does not get the Lakers’ job. Cassell is currently in his first season in Boston as part of Joe Mazzulla’s staff but has coached under Rivers in nine of his 15 seasons on NBA benches.”

Cassell has suddenly become the hot commodity around the league, as the Lakers are interested in him as a possible head coach while the Bucks are interested in adding him to Rivers’ staff- it would make it the tenth year Cassell has been on a Rivers-led team.

His resumé as an assistant on NBA sidelines is 15-years worth of experience, working with a dozen of different players and developed them in that time; John Wall, Bradley Beal, SGA, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid.

Cassell is widely respected in the NBA, both as a player and a coach. He’s proven to be great at both and it goes hand-and-hand because as a former player, he’s able to connect with today’s players and it positively impacts the development process.

It’s worth mentioning that if the Lakers don’t hire Cassell, there’s a strong chance that he’ll rejoin Rivers in Milwaukee. That would make Boston without its top two assistant coaches going into next season after a championship run.

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