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The assembly of Lloyd Pierce’s coaching staff with the Atlanta Hawks is of great interest, especially given the strength in player development under the previous regime and the focus on that as an encouraging aspect of Pierce’s head coaching profile. To this point, we know that Melvin Hunt will be serving as Pierce’s lead assistant, with indications that Marlon Garnett will be joining the staff in an assistant coaching capacity.
Now, reports indicate that there will be at least one holdover from the Budenholzer era in the form of Chris Jent.
One member of Budenholzer's coaching staff, Chris Jent, to remain with Hawks. Others still uncertain.
— Michael Cunningham (@MCunninghamAJC) May 24, 2018
Chris Jent is remaining as an assistant coach with the Atlanta Hawks on new head coach Lloyd Pierce’s staff, a source said. Jent, who joined the Hawks in 2017, previously worked with Pierce under then-head coach Mike Brown’s staff with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) May 26, 2018
Jent was the only 2017-2018 assistant coach hired during the Travis Schlenk era, as he was tabbed to replace Neven Spahija in July 2017. As noted above, Jent also has previous ties to Pierce, as the duo worked together in Cleveland over a three-year period.
All signs point toward the majority of last season’s staff, headlined by Darvin Ham, joining Mike Budenholzer in Milwaukee and Michael Cunningham of the AJC reports that Pierce will hire two additional assistant coaches in the near future. Still, there will be some carryover and Jent is a well-respected name around the league that can aid in the transition from one staff to the other.