Reports: Former Blazers Assistant Joe Prunty To Coach Great Britain

Former Portland Trail Blazers assistant coach Joe Prunty is in line to become the new head coach of Great Britain's National Team, according to multiple reports.

Mark Woods of MVP247.com reports...

Great Britain's men could find out their new coach next week, with Cleveland Cavaliers assistant Joe Prunty set to be named in charge, according to sources in the NBA.

MVP has learnt that final contractual arrangements are likely to be signed off following Easter Weekend to name a successor to Chris Finch, following an extensive recruitment process arranged, somewhat controversially, by an external agency.

Prunty, whose only head coaching experience has been in summer leagues, is in his third year on the bench of the Cavaliers after spells with Portland, Dallas and San Antonio.

Jodie Valade of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports...

Cavaliers assistant coach Joe Prunty is expected to coach the Great Britain senior men's national team in the EuroBasket competition this summer, The Plain Dealer has confirmed.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports...

Cavaliers assistant coach Joe Prunty has been lined up to succeed Rockets assistant Chris Finch as coach of Great Britain's national team. It's an undeniably high-profile break for Prunty after Team GB's presence in last summer's Olympics as the host nation, but funding issues have made a very complicated job even more daunting. The program will continue to receive government backing in excess of $10 million over the next four years, in the name of ensuring that the sport has a post-Olympics legacy -- but only if the Brits finish sixth in this summer's EuroBasket tournament.

And without the assurance of that funding, affording the insurance costs to be able to keep the likes of Chicago's Luol Deng and Portland's Joel Freeland on the roster might prove impossible, which presumably puts that sixth-place finish out of reach. We'll have to see how much money British basketball has in reserve when it tries to at least bring Freeland back for EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia in September.

Prunty was an assistant under coach Nate McMillan from 2008 until 2010.

Blazers forward/center Joel Freeland represented Great Britain during the 2012 London Olympics, where he averaged 14.6 points and 6.6 rebounds.

Image via NBA.com.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter