Memphis Grizzlies hire Darnell Lazare as new assistant coach | Source

(This story was updated to include new information.)

The Memphis Grizzlies are hiring Darnell Lazare as an assistant coach, sources confirmed to The Commercial Appeal on July 23.

The sources requested anonymity because no official announcement has been made.

He previously worked with the Grizzlies as a player development coach in 2018.

Lazare most recently was an assistant with the New Orleans Pelicans, where he started as a player development coach in 2019.

Lazare is the third assistant hired by Memphis under new coach Tuomas Iisalo. The Grizzlies previously added Brian "Penny" Collins and Ryan Saunders.

Lazare is expected to work mostly with the bigs. In New Orleans, he played a crucial role in the development of Pelicans center Yves Missi during his rookie season.

After going undrafted out of LSU in 2007, Lazare played eight years overseas and in the NBA's G-League (formerly D-League).

Memphis has added three assistants to Iisalo's staff. Jason March and Erick Schmidt were on Iisalo's staff during summer league action along with Collins.

March and Schmidt are holdovers from last season's staff and are the longest tenured members of the Grizzlies organization on the coaching staff.

Iisalo was named Grizzlies interim coach after Memphis fired Taylor Jenkins on March 28. The team promoted Iisalo to the full-time job on May 2 after his first season as the lead assistant coach.

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.