Celtics Rumors: Ime Udoka Expected to Hire 3 BOS Assistants to Rockets Staff

Heading into his first season as head coach of the Houston Rockets, Ime Udoka is adding some familiar faces to his staff.

Per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, current Boston Celtics assistants Ben Sullivan, Aaron Miles and Mike Moser are expected to join Udoka in Houston.

If they do leave Boston, this will mark four key assistants Joe Mazzulla has lost in three months. Damon Stoudamire, who joined the club in July 2021, was named Georgia Tech's head coach on March 14.

Sullivan, Miles and Moser were all hired by the Celtics when Udoka was head coach. Sullivan and Miles were brought in during the summer of 2021. Moser was hired as a player enhancement coach in July 2022 after Evan Bradds went to the Utah Jazz with Will Hardy.

Udoka was suspended by the Celtics for the entire 2022-23 season on Sept. 23 for multiple violations of team policies following an investigation conducted by an outside law firm.

Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the investigation began after Udoka made "unwanted comments" toward a Celtics female staffer he had an intimate relationship with that the organization became aware of in July.

Mazzulla, who had been an assistant with the team since 2019, replaced Udoka on an interim basis. He was named the full-time head coach and given an extension in February, officially ending Udoka's tenure with the Celtics.

The Rockets hired Udoka as their new head coach on April 26. The 45-year-old will be tasked with turning around a franchise that has lost at least 55 games in each of the past three seasons.

Udoka went 51-31 and led the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals in his only season as head coach.