The Houston Rockets added to coach Ime Udoka’s staff by hiring Chip Engelland as an assistant Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of the hire.

Engelland, 65, overlapped with Udoka when the latter played and coached with the San Antonio Spurs. Engelland coached under Gregg Popovich from 2005 to 2022. He spent the past four seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder and has long been regarded as one of the league’s better shooting coaches.

When he joined the Thunder in July of 2022, ESPN reported that “he has long been one of the league’s highest-paid assistant coaches.”

The Rockets, who have two young players in Amen Thompson and Alperen Şengün who are still working to establish themselves as shooters, could benefit from Engelland’s presence. Thompson shot just 21.6% and Şengün just 30.5% from 3-point range last season.

Engelland started his NBA career in 1999 as an assistant with the Detroit Pistons before moving to the Denver Nuggets as Director of Player Development in 2003. Bill Branch, a scout for the Nuggets at the time, told Bleacher Report that “a lot of us call Chip ‘The Shot Whisperer.’”

“He’s great with shot mechanics,” Branch said in the article, “but his secret is building the confidence of everyone he works with. There’s nobody better at that aspect.”

The veteran coach helped reconstruct Spurs point guard Tony Parker’s shot, according to Chris Ballard’s book “The Art of a Beautiful Game” via a Grantland article. Engelland adjusted Parker’s hand placement, slowing his motion and changing his release point. Engelland was also critical in the development of Kawhi Leonard, a poor shooter entering the league who has since become one of the game’s best.

“Coming in right before the lockout, he changed [my shot] but not too much,” Leonard said, per Bleacher Report. “I had a good shooting form, but he brought my release a little lower and helped my follow-through. But they were just little adjustments Chip had seen. I just believed in it and worked on it from there.”

Udoka played in San Antonio from 2007-09 and 2010-11. He was an assistant coach for the Spurs from 2012-19.

ESPN first reported the hire.