Prior to the beginning of NBA Summer League, rumors surfaced that Washington Wizards assistant coach Sam Cassell would be leaving the team to join Doc Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Sam Cassell has been instrumental in helping develop John Wall and certainly played a big part in acquiring Paul Pierce via free agency, but it looks like he’s ready to move on from the nation’s capital.

According to Jared Zwerling, Sam Cassell will replace Tyronn Lue as an assistant in Los Angeles.

Hearing Sam Cassell will become a Clippers assistant coach. Announcement to come this week. Clippers had been trying to get him (post Lue). — Jared Zwerling (@JaredZwerling) August 2, 2014

Washington will likely get some sort of compensation back for losing Sam Cassell to the Los Angeles Clippers, but they’ll also have to find a way to replace him on the bench. Sam Cassell has been with the Wizards since 2009 under Flip Saunders and stayed with the team after Saunders was eventually let go by the team. John Wall has credited Sam Cassell for helping his development and it’s no secret that he’s brought some leadership to a relatively young team.

Al Harrington was the Wizards’ assistant coach in Las Vegas during summer league under Cassell, and he could potentially join Wittman on the bench, replacing Sam Cassell. Although Harrington stated that he’d like to continue his playing career, he’s still an unrestricted free agent and has been unable to stay healthy for the past two seasons.

At this point, I think Al Harrington is more valuable for his leadership than his production on the floor, so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if he ends up replacing Sam Cassell as an assistant coach.

Nothing is official yet, but it looks like Sam Cassell will be an assistant under Doc Rivers next season. Washington will probably hire another assistant before the start of training camp. Could it be Al Harrington? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.