The New York Knicks have announced the hire of Aaron Brooks as a “two-way liaison” who will help the organization on both levels, in the NBA and the G-League.
Brooks played all four years of college basketball for the University of Oregon where he averaged 13.1 ppg, 4.1a sts and 3 rebs. Brooks was drafted 26th overall in the 2007 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. He spent 10 years in the NBA playing for 7 different teams including the Chicago Bulls from 2013-16 and the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2017-18 season, where he played under the new Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau. In his most productive season Brooks averaged 19.6 ppg and 5.3 asts for the Rockets and averaged 9.7 ppg and 3 asts throughout his NBA career. Brooks was also a client of Knicks President, Leon Rose.
During the 2011 NBA lockout, Brooks played a season for the Guangdong Southern Tigers and was selected to be the starting point guard in the Chinese Basketball Associations All-Star game after former Knick JR Smith dropped out. Brooks last played professionally in the NBL in the 2019-20 season where he played for the Illawarra Hawks and was team-mates with this year’s drafts’ 3rd overall pick and now Charlotte Hornets point guard, Lamelo Ball. He averaged 17.8ppg on 46% shooting to go along with 4.1 asts through 7 games in Australia.
Brooks tore his Achilles while playing in Australia, and this will be his first coaching job at age 35. Brooks is only one of many hires announced by the Knicks today in an announcement that included the hiring of Darren Erman, who was last the head coach of the Celtic’s G-league affiliate team, and Larry Greer who will work as an advanced scout and assistant coach.
This continues the strengthening of the Knicks’ coaching staff in recent months, including former Kentucky man Kenny Payne, and former New York head coach Mike Woodson.
Check out Knicks Fan TV’s offseason shows about all of the coaching hires made by Leon Rose and the new Knicks front office
