will be one of three assistants to join coach Nate McMillan's staff for the 2010-11 season, McMillan said Wednesday.

Williams will join Bernie Bickerstaff and Bob Ociepka as new additions, with an official announcement coming early next week.

McMillan flew to Washington, D.C., to interview Williams last week, and Blazers president Larry Miller followed up with a phone interview on Tuesday. Williams on Wednesday said his appointment is "still up in the air" but he acknowledged that the two sides are talking.

Williams was the starting power forward for the 1990 and 1992 teams that made it to the NBA Finals. He played from 1989-1996 with the Blazers and holds the franchise mark for career-field goal percentage (.550). A rugged defender and tenacious rebounder despite his 6-foot-8 1/2 frame, Williams ranks fourth all-time in Blazers rebounds and third in offensive rebounds.

Williams, 50, served three seasons as the president of the Players Association (1994-1997) and for the past five years has been in the vice president and co-owner of Eagle Construction and Building Supplies in Potomac, Maryland.

"Buck is a professional with a tireless work ethic," McMillan said. "Now that his kids have grown, he's been looking to get back into the league."

McMillan said the three assistants will arrive in Portland next week and will begin formulating a plan for training camp, which begins in October.

The new coaches replace Monty Williams, who became the head coach of New Orleans; Maurice Lucas, who retired because of illness; and Dean Demopoulos and Joe Prunty, whose contracts were not renewed. Bill Bayno and Kaleb Canales were retained.

McMillan said the shakeup of his staff was not ordered by owner Paul Allen or management and that he picked all three coaches.

"This was all my doing," McMillan said. "I wasn't forced to do this and nobody selected these guys for me. I look at my staff, and myself, every year, and this season, with us losing Monty and Luke (Lucas), I just felt it was time to make changes. I needed to get a balance and chemistry back, not only for me, but for the players."

After Williams is signed, McMillan said he doesn't want to pigeon hole him as just a coach for the big men.

"I hate to label, because I want our coaches just to coach," McMillan said. "But if we can bring him on board, I want him to talk to all the players, but I'm sure he will gravitate towards the bigs more often than not. I'm pretty sure of that."

Bickerstaff has more than 30 years of NBA experience, which includes an NBA title as an assistant with Washington in 1978. He was also head coach in Seattle for McMillan's first four seasons as a pro, while also holding the top coaching position in Denver and Washington. He also held front office positions with Denver and Charlotte and for the past two seasons was an assistant with Chicago.

"Bernie brings a lot of experience – NBA title experience –and he's a guy I know," McMillan said.

Ociepka is an 18-year veteran assistant, the last two in Chicago. McMillan said Ociepka will head the team's defensive attack.