Report: Mercury hiring NBA assistant Nate Tibbetts as next coach

The Phoenix Mercury are finalizing a deal to make Orlando Magic assistant Nate Tibbetts their next head coach, ESPN reported Monday.

Tibbetts, 46, will be the highest-paid coach in WNBA history, the report said.

Tibbetts was entering his third season as Magic coach Jamahl Mosley's top assistant. Before that, he spent eight seasons as an assistant for the Portland Trail Blazers and two for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Mercury had a rocky year on their way to finishing a league-worst 9-31. The team fired coach Vanessa Nygaard in June and named Nikki Blue interim head coach for the rest of the campaign.

Brittney Griner returned to the league after being detained in Russia for 10 months on a drug-related charge. Griner was harassed when the team was walking through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport during a road trip in June.

Skylar Diggins-Smith, meanwhile, spent the season on maternity leave and publicly called out the way the Mercury had treated her during that time, claiming she wasn't allowed to use the practice facility or "any resources" from the franchise.

Phoenix will return WNBA legend Diana Taurasi for another season. Griner is an unrestricted free agent but told reporters Phoenix is where she wants to stay.