A brief roundup of everything about the current Brooklyn Nets coach search, including the news that one major candidate met with the Nets — today.
- Recent retiree and former New Jersey Nets great Jason Kidd met with the Nets today to discuss the head coaching vacancy. The meeting was originally planned for Kidd to talk with Nets general manager Billy King about his post-playing career, but it appears that Kidd wanted to convince King that he’s ready for a head coaching job, specifically with the Nets.
One caveat to Kidd getting the job is finding an “all-star” cast of assistants to help with the steep learning curve of being a head coach. Multiple reports indicate that Kidd, in the meeting, touted Lawrence Frank (who coached Kidd in New Jersey) as his potential assistant coach.
- Indiana Pacers associate head coach Brian Shaw is meeting with the Los Angeles Clippers about their coaching vacancy today, and meeting with the Nets Wednesday. The Clippers are expected to interview numerous candidates this week for the job, including Memphis Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins.
- The Nets reached out to the Grizzlies the day after the Grizzlies were eliminated from the playoffs, asking for permission to speak with Hollins. The Grizzlies refused, presumably because they were hoping to negotiate a contract with Hollins to retain him. After talks broke down between Hollins & the Grizzlies, the Clippers asked for permission to speak with Hollins, which was granted. There is no indication at this time that the Nets have asked for permission to speak with Hollins.
- There’s no indication that the Nets have reached out to former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl, who was let go by the Nuggets this week.
- Have the Nets spoken with Jeff Van Gundy? Apparently yes, but that doesn’t mean much. Van Gundy is notoriously coy about open coaching positions, telling SNY that “I don’t just talk about jobs” and “If (Nets General Manager) Billy (King) wants to talk about who he has talked to, then that’s up to him.” It doesn’t appear that Van Gundy interviewed for the job or is a serious candidate.
- One name to keep in the back of your head: Doc Rivers. Though it appeared earlier this month that Rivers was returning to Boston, a report from the Boston Globe today made it seem that Rivers was still unsure about his future in Boston, saying that he needed to “detox” after the season and wouldn’t confirm that he was returning to Boston after his 9th season. Rivers has three years left on his contract, which means he’d need permission to look at other coaching jobs, and someone needing to “detox” probably isn’t someone who’s going to be running to coaching interviews. But still worth keeping in mind.
- The international man of mystery: some overseas reports indicated that Russian billionaire Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov had an interest in Ettore Messina, Italian-born coach of CSKA Moscow and one of Europe’s most decorated coaches. Mitch Lawrence wrote an op-ed piece yesterday arguing that Messina should be on Brooklyn’s list, noting that some Nets executives in Russia are quite fond of Messina. No indication that they’ve reached out to him (though there were reports that the Nets reached out to Messina before hiring Avery Johnson), and he was on the Hawks’ list as well. But like Rivers, keep him in the back of your head.
- Other names to forget: Phil Jackson (declined, though he called it a great coaching option), Scott Skiles (never got beyond the rumor stage), Jerry Sloan (appears to be returning to Utah, if he returns at all), Mike Dunleavy (won’t get an interview), Stan Van Gundy (same), me (only good as a 2K coach).
