Once traded for Pippen, Rogers is back with the Bulls
The Chicago Bulls have reached an agreement with Roy Rogers to join their coaching staff, a team source confirmed. He spent the past three seasons on Mike D'Antoni's staff in Houston.
Astute Bulls fans will recall this isn't the first time Rogers has gone from Houston to Chicago. He was traded from the Rockets for Scottie Pippen during the rapid housecleaning performed by former general manager Jerry Krause before the 1999 lockout season.
When the Bulls played a preseason game against Indiana that year, Rogers was swarmed by reporters in the locker room and asked questions about being part of the post-championship Bulls. But Rogers was cut shortly after that and never played in a regular-season game for the Bulls.
The 6-foot-10 forward was chosen by Vancouver with the No. 22 pick of the 1996 draft. He played a decent amount with the Grizzlies as a rookie, but after that saw action in only a handful of games for Toronto, Boston and Denver. He finished his pro career overseas, playing in Russia, Italy and Poland.
Rogers, 45, began coaching in the G League and got his first NBA job with the New Jersey Nets under Lawrence Frank in 2008. Rogers later spent a year in Boston with Doc Rivers, two in Detroit with Frank, back to the Nets with Jason Kidd, and Washington under Randy Wittman before joining the Rockets.
Houston decided to shake up the coaching staff following the second-round playoff loss to Golden State. The contracts of Rogers and Prospect High School grad Jeff Bzdelik were not renewed, while assistant Mitch Vanya, video coordinator John Cho and player development assistant Irv Roland were also let go, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Rogers essentially replaces longtime Bulls assistant Pete Myers, who resigned for personal reasons. The Bulls have yet to officially announce the expected addition of Brooklyn's Chris Fleming as Jim Boylen's lead assistant.
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