NBA-Oklahoma City Thunder | Chip ‘The Machine Gun’ Engelland joins Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are reportedly hiring renowned shooting guru Arthur Edward “Chip” Engelland as an assistant coach.

Engelland will join the Thunder after spending 17 years with the San Antonio Spurs, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

According to Wojnarowski, Engelland and San Antonio were unable to reach an agreement on a new contract in the offseason, prompting the 61-year-old to look for other opportunities elsewhere.

The world-class shot doctor was instrumental in turning many Spurs franchise players into better shooters including Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker and Dejounte Murray, to name a few.

Pundits and fans alike consider the Thunder’s appointment of Engelland as one of the biggest acquisitions by any NBA team in the offseason. Engelland is arguably the NBA’s best shot wizard, experts believe.

When the Spurs drafted Kawhi Leonard, he has a poor shooting record sinking just 25 percent of his 3-point shots at San Diego State. He was also below 50 percent inside the arc.

Engelland helped turn Leonard into one of the league’s best all-around shooters with a deadly mid-range shot and a good lob from beyond the arc.

With the Thunder, Engelland is expected to make the same impact that he had with the Spurs by helping improve the shooting prowess of a number of talented young players, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey and No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren. Oklahoma City finished with a 24–58 record last season.

Engelland joined the Spurs in 2005 after brief stints with the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets.

The naturalized Filipino citizen spent two seasons as a member of the Philippine national basketball under the sponsorship of Northern Cement Corporation that won the 1985 Jones Cup Championship. Adored by many Filipino fans, he earned the monicker “the Machine Gun” for his fantastic shooting skills.

Yahoo Philippines