The Oklahoma City Thunder have a treasure trove of assets for the foreseeable future. Not all of those come in the form of prospects and draft picks. One of the most valuable pieces is assistant coach Dave Bliss.
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Bliss has developed into one of the best assistant coaches in the league. As a result, he has earned the attention of the Phoenix Suns. The Suns, after firing their head coach, Mike Budenholzer, after a single season, are looking for a successor. Bliss is one of the names on their short list.
Dave Bliss’ coaching history
| Coaching Career | ||
| 2008-09 | University of Georgia | Volunteer Assistant |
| 2009-10 | Virginia Commonwealth University | Graduate Assistant |
| 2010-15 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Video Analyst and Player Development Coach |
| 2015-18 | New York Knicks | Player Development Coach |
| 2018-19 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Senior Player Development Coach |
| 2019-Present | Oklahoma City Thunder | Assistant Coach |
Basketball has been a prominent aspect of Bliss’ life from a very young age. Just like many, he had dreams of playing in the NBA. That pushed him to play competitively in his youth. Despite being just a two-star prospect coming out of high school, he received a scholarship at the University of Georgia.
Start of coaching journey
Dave Bliss started all four years at Georgia, but it was clear that the NBA wasn’t a realistic goal. Instead of sulking, he pivoted his goals to a different area of basketball. That marked the beginning of his coaching journey.
In the 2008-09 season, Bliss returned to Georgia as a volunteer assistant. The following year, he joined the staff of Virginia Commonwealth as a graduate assistant. After just two seasons serving on coaching staffs for college teams, the NBA came knocking at his door.
His first opportunity came with the Thunder as a member of Scott Brooks’ coaching staff. From 2010-2015, Bliss was a video analyst and player development coach. His experience led him to another opportunity with the New York Knicks.
The Knicks were entering a rebuild and sought Bliss’ development abilities. He served on the Knicks’ staff from 2015-2018. After three years with the Knicks, when the opportunity came knocking, Bliss couldn’t resist the temptation to return to the organization where his NBA career had begun.
In the 2018-19 season, Bliss returned to the Thunder as the senior player development coach. Once Mark Daigneault became the head coach ahead of the 2019-2020 season, he promoted Bliss to be an assistant coach.
From that point onward, he has been vital in the Thunder’s ascension into becoming one of the NBA’s giants.
Suns’ top 5 candidates for the head coaching position
The Suns have already narrowed their candidates for the head coach position. Those figures include Cleveland Cavaliers assistants Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, along with the Dallas Mavericks assistant Sean Sweeney and the Miami Heat’s Chris Quinn. The addition of Bliss pushes the list to five.
The idea of Bliss as the team’s next head coach is quite intriguing. Dave Bliss is the main architect behind the Thunder’s tenacious and historic defense. Daigneault gave Bliss the responsibility of manning OKC’s defensive efforts and has only had positive things to say.
“Since I became the head coach, he’s been overseeing the day-to-day maintenance of our defense,” Daigneault said. “He’s done an unbelievable job at that. He has a great temperament for that. He doesn’t overreact, but he doesn’t underreact. He’s incredibly intelligent.”
Phoenix is desperate for some of Bliss’ magic, considering defense was one of their biggest weak points. The Suns could use some of that brainpower, as they were 26th in defensive rating.
Typically, it would be a risk to hire Bliss as a first-time head coach, considering the Suns will be appointing their fourth head coach in four seasons. But the difference in the Suns’ situation is that all of their candidates have no NBA head coaching experience.
That no longer remains as big of a deterrent following JJ Redick’s success as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers despite having no coaching experience whatsoever.
Bliss is highly respected not just with the Thunder but around the NBA. His fresh voice could be exactly what the Suns need to turn things around.
