The Brooklyn Nets are “strongly” considering two-time NBA Executive of the Year Award winner Bryan Colangelo to fill Billy King’s role as general manager, according to a report from ESPN.
Colangelo, who has past experience as a general manager in Phoenix and Toronto, recently consulted for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which oversees the Raptors & Maple Leafs, as well as the soccer club Toronto FC. He has also worked, in his words, as an “affordable consultant” for other NBA teams. Colangelo began consulting after stepping down as Raptors team president in 2013. Colangelo has been given credit for helping build the Suns into a top-flight Western Conference team in the mid-2000s, as well as for his work turning the Toronto Raptors into a playoff contender in the Eastern Conference. He has won NBA Executive of the Year twice: first with the Suns in 2005, and then with the Raptors in 2007.
ESPN’s Mike Mazzeo & Brian Windhorst additionally reported that the team’s search committee will include Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment CEO Brett Yormark, Chairman of the Board Dmitry Razumov, president of Prokhorov’s former club CSKA Moscow Sergey Kushchenko, and Irina Pavlova, the President of ONEXIM’s United States holdings.
The report adds that following a GM hire, the team is expected to pursue “one of the top available coaches, such as Tom Thibodeau and Mark Jackson.”
Meanwhile, some intrepid fan has already jumped the gun, listing Colangelo as the team’s GM on his Wikipedia page.
ESPN — Nets considering Bryan Colangelo for general manager role
Note: an earlier version of this article referred to Colangelo as a current consultant for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. While that was the job Colangelo took after stepping down from the presidency, it is no longer his title. The error has been fixed.
