Veteran assistant coach Chip Engelland is leaving the Thunder to take a position as an assistant coach with the Rockets under Ime Udoka, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

Engelland spent time with the Pistons (1999-2000) as a shooting consultant and with the Nuggets (2003-05) as their director of player development before being hired by the Spurs as an assistant coach in 2005. He remained in that role until 2022, overlapping with fellow assistant Udoka for several seasons on Gregg Popovich‘s staff, before spending the past four years (2022-26) in Oklahoma City.

As Charania observes, Engelland is highly regarded for his player development skills and as a shooting specialist. While the Thunder’s changing roster personnel was obviously an important factor, Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (Twitter link) notes that OKC made an NBA-worst 32.3% of its three-point tries in 2021/22 and has since finished 17th, first, sixth, and ninth in that category after hiring Engelland.

The Rockets ranked 10th in the league with a .364 3PT% in 2025/26, but had just 31.5 three-point attempts per game, which was 28th out of 30 teams. They’ll be looking to maintain or improve that percentage while increasing their volume from beyond the arc in ’26/27.