Nets Head Coach: Updated List of Viable Candidates
It isn’t often that an NBA coach with a 30–11 record coming off a Finals appearance is fired, but that was the case on Friday when the Cleveland Cavaliers announced that they have fired Head Coach David Blatt.
As losers of 10 of the past 11 games, Brooklyn Nets fans and players are frustrated with the current state of the team. The lack of an established coach is just making matters worse.
As the Nets continue their search for a viable head coach, Blatt is now an option. His .675 winning percentage as an NBA Head Coach and the respect he has earned from Prokhorov makes a strong case for the former coach of Russia’s national basketball team. However, Blatt ties with Prokhorov and exemplary record in the NBA doesn’t necessarily make him the top candidate for the team.
The Brooklyn Nets have reported interest in Tom Thibodeau, a strong, hard-nosed, defensive-minded coach winning 64.7 percent of his regular-season games with the Bulls. Other options for the head coach vacancy include Mark Jackson, John Calipari, and Luke Walton (who led the Golden State Warriors to an impressive 39-4 record as an interim Head Coach).
Whether the Nets will decide to hire David Blatt remains to be seen, but there is no shortage of excellent Head Coach candidates that can help Brooklyn turn things around before 2020.
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What readers said at the time
2 replies came in under this piece in 2016, and they are kept here as they were written — the readers’ words, not ours, spelling and all. The thread is closed; the desk does not take new comments.
jerry2523 January 2016
What is the point? Without a GM first, no coach will be hired.
I’d like to see Danny Ferry for GM. For one, he did a good job in ATL. As a former player, he gets along with players. And because of his unfortunate situation with the minority owner of the Hawks, Proky may be the only person willing to take a chance. Ferry would have to accept Proky’s terms.I’ll trust Ferry’s judgment over mine, for head coach.
And I don’t think Brian Colangelo would take the job without huge concessions by Proky.Ravi Shah23 January 2016
Definitely agree that the GM is the first priority, but I think that the head coach is arguably more important. We need a coach who bring passion and energy to the Nets. Talent isn’t the Nets’ biggest issue; I think the Nets need a coach that can motivate and utilize the players to the best of their ability.