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After spending quality time with both Gary Payton and Jerry Stackhouse in Vegas, Jason Kidd hinted that he was close to adding a former Buck to his coaching staff--just not an "obvious" choice.
Looks like he's keeping his word.
Tweets from Milwaukee and reports from Philadelphia suggest Kidd is close to adding Sixers' player development assistant Greg Foster to his staff in Milwaukee, bringing Foster back to the town where he played a rather uneventful total of 43 minutes in the 93/94 and 01/02 seasons. The good news is that his coaching career seems to have more promise than his 13-year career as an NBA journeyman.
Greg Foster to #Bucks as an assistant. Like it! Son's in high school. To play in area, I hear. Welcome back to MKE, Fosters!
— Jeff Sherman (@ShermanJeff) July 31, 2014
In a move that shocked many with the Sixers, Greg Foster left Philly for a "big promotion" to a full Assistant Coach with Milwaukee.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) July 31, 2014
After starting out coaching at UTEP in 2010, it's been a meteoric rise for Greg Foster. Already an assistant coach after just 1 yr in NBA.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) July 31, 2014
Greg Foster worked every day with Nerlens Noel in practice and the two will maintain a relationship, the source said.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) July 31, 2014
With Nerlens Noel still developing and Joel Embiid just entering Philly's program, losing Greg Foster is a huge loss for the Sixers.
— Jake Fischer (@JakeLFischer) July 31, 2014
Foster is an old friend of Kidd's from the Bay Area, which along with a promotion to a full assistant's role likely went a long way to convincing him to move on from a comfortable up-and-coming role in Philly. From Liberty Ballers' Jake Pavorsky:
When Nerlens Noel was spending his days in the gym rehabbing his torn ACL and working on post moves, the one guy there every day was assistant Greg Foster. In Summer League when Noel finally hit the court Foster honed in on him, yelling at him to be more aggressive. While in Vegas, I noticed he was keeping a note pad, and when Nerlens messed up he would jot down things for him to work on.If there was any person (outside of Noel) that was responsible for helping to build the skill set the 2013 first round pick showed off in Vegas and Orlando, it was undoubtedly Foster. So to see word that he was leaving the Sixers staff was certainly a shock.
Foster's arrival would give the Bucks three assistants with development backgrounds, joining former Nets assistant Eric Hughes and holdover development coach Josh Oppenheimer. Former Nets assistants Joe Prunty and Sean Sweeney round out Kidd's staff, with Foster likely to spend a good chunk of his spare time working with young big men John Henson, Johnny O'Bryant and Larry Sanders.