Having Overlooked Ime Udoka While Hiring Jacque Vaughn, Who Could the Nets Target Now?

The Brooklyn Nets reached the end of their tether with Wednesday’s 50-point loss to the Celtics. With 33 losses in the season and a pct of .389, the Nets rank 11th in the East. They are also just three losses away from joining the bottom five of the conference. So, when they announced the firing of Jacque Vaughn, it wasn’t that huge a surprise.

With 28 games left in the season, the ‘Empire State’ will need a miracle worker to turn things around. Let’s take a look at the potential candidates for the Nets’ next Head Coach position.

Who will take over Vaughn’s role in the Nets?

It’s a given that whoever takes over a team this late in the season will have an insane amount of pressure to change things drastically. It was a risky move, but the franchise wouldn’t have made such a decision without the complete belief that their next coach has the capability and skills to change things for the better.

• As such, the frontrunner for the position is none other than the interim head coach, Kevin Ollie.

He is most famous for his coaching stint at UConn from 2012 to 2018. During his time there, Ollie led the Huskies to a national championship in the 2013-14 season, as well as a few NCAA Tournaments. Fast forward to the 2023-24 season, and he joined Brooklyn as part of Vaughn’s staff. His experience working under the ex-Nets HC and his expertise as head coach with young hoopers will be quite handy for the team.

Ollie already has a relationship with the Nets’ young core. So, he wouldn’t need the period of settling in and understanding each player’s strengths and weaknesses. The 13-year NBA veteran also made a name for himself as a gritty role player, doing whatever his team needed from him. Hence, it won’t be surprising if he gets promoted to full-time head coach soon.

• The next on the list is a familiar face for the franchise, Kenny Atkinson.

He coached the Nets from 2016 to 2020, after which Brooklyn let go of him amid much noise. Atkinson came into the franchise when they were at one of the lowest points, much like now, and turned things around to put them in a position to contend. In Atkinson, they get a coach who knows the Nets like no other.

But they hadn’t parted on the best of terms. The most recent update about the man was that he was going to take up the assistant coach position on the French national team. Whether he will leave the charms of France to come back to Brooklyn is up for discussion.

• Moving on, we have got Mike D’Antoni to join the potential candidates.

Mike D’Antoni is also not unfamiliar to the Brooklyn Nets as he worked with both Vaughn and Steve Nash as an assistant coach in the 2020-21 season. But he left soon after in pursuit of head coaching positions. Although that did not work well in the favor of the 72-year-old, he is an elite coach who knows the workings of the franchise.

In D’Antoni, the Nets get a fast-paced offensive genius. His record of 672-527 in 16 seasons is also an added incentive. Now, all Brooklyn has to do is pop the question and Mike might just say, ‘I do’.

• Finally, on the list is a Brooklyn native, Mark Jackson.

Perhaps he is most notable for his time with the Golden State Warriors (2011-14). The Dubs were slowly rising in the ranks, with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson finding their footing. With Jackson’s arrival, the Warriors saw a speedy turnaround (23, 47, and 51 wins in each season). He was also quick to recognize the impact Curry and Thompson could achieve as a formidable backcourt duo.

In Jackson, the Nets get a coach with HC experience, training two of the top names in the league, and one of the best teams in the NBA. Add in the rumor that he’s been wanting to get back to coaching duties, preferably with his home team. The Nets have got themselves a willing candidate. There is no doubt that he will put himself smack in the middle of the fray. But whether he can make an immediate difference is doubtful. Especially considering he will be returning to action after almost a decade of hibernation, so to speak.

So, there you go. The top four candidates for the next head coach position in a stressful Nets season. That is not to say Jacque Vaughn didn’t do his duties for the team. After all, the Nets overlooked Ime Udoka to hire Vaughn.

Is Brooklyn repeating history with the firing of Jacque Vaughn?

After firing Atkinson, the Nets appointed Vaughn as the interim head coach. In 2022, once again, JV was appointed as interim after Steve Nash parted ways with Brooklyn. Not too long after, he took over the duties as head coach. It came as a shock to many, given that Ime Udoka was the front-runner for being the HC. Amidst speculations and rumors, the one factor that everyone agreed on was the allegations of sexual impropriety against the ex-Celtics’ head coach.

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It was a troubling period for Brooklyn as well. With Kyrie Irving’s propagation of an antisemitic video, the Nets’ front office had their hands full trying to keep the peace. Bringing in Udoka at that point would have been a glaring question mark on the efficiency of the management and ownership.

There was also the fact that Vaughn already knew how the Nets worked. So, giving him the position full-time didn’t seem to hurt the franchise. But Atkinson’s firing and now, Vaughn’s have quite a bit of similarities. One of the main factors was the players’ dissatisfaction with how the 49-year-old was running the offense.

According to Shams Charania, Spencer Dinwiddie and Mikal Bridges are among the players who expressed their concerns. During the team’s 13-10 start to the season, Brooklyn had an offensive rating of 117.7 – eighth in the league. But since then, it has dropped to 25. And a major factor was that their 3-point shooting went from third to 24th.

Though no names were revealed, back in 2020, Anthony Puccio of the Nets Daily had reported on multiple sources, revealing player dissatisfaction with Atkinson. Anyway, that chapter was done and dusted. Now, all that’s left to know is whether Ollie will be the next Jacque Vaughn or will the Nets try their luck with a new entry.

Who do you think is the most likely candidate out of the above four? Do you think firing Vaughn was the right move? Drop your thoughts below!

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