Nets’ top choice for next head coach revealed

The Brooklyn Nets are closing in on an agreement with a new head coach. Jordi Fernandez has emerged as the franchise’s top choice for the position after a month-long search, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

After firing Jacque Vaughn and promoting Kevin Ollie to interim head coach at the All-Star break, General Manager Sean Marks and owner Joe Tsai reportedly searched through a candidate pool of nearly a dozen names. Fernandez, a top assistant with the Sacramento Kings, is expected to earn the job over former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer and Phoenix Suns assistant coach Kevin Young.

Many within league circles have viewed Fernandez, a defensive specialist, as a prime candidate to elevate from the bench to a head coaching position over the last year. Before Sacramento, the 41-year-old was a player development coach with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2009 to 2016 and served as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets from 2016 to 2022.

He also has brief head-coaching experience, leading the Canadian national team to a bronze medal in the FIBA World Cup this summer. That stint caught the eye of NBA executives, according to Wojnarowski.

Brooklyn underwhelmed this year in their first full season of the post-Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era. The Nets finished with a 32-50 record, the ninth-worst in the NBA. They enter the offseason with a roster headlined by Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas, Cam Johnson and impending free agent Nic Claxton. However, with known aspirations to acquire a star, it’s uncertain which players will remain a part of the long-term picture.

Bridges was critical of the Nets’ coaching staff following their last game before Vaughn’s firing. He commented on what he was looking for in the franchise’s next head coach at exit interviews on Monday.

“Being very detailed and being a players coach as well. I think that’s the biggest thing, just talking to guys and getting feedback and everything,” Bridges said. “But just for me personally, the detailed aspect is big, being detailed on both ends. You wanna play and have that moment in the season where you’re not really thinking anymore, you kinda know what we’re doing offensively and defensively, it’s kinda just that free mindset to go out there.

“That’s the biggest thing, just to know at one point in the season that it’s second nature. Knowing what we’re doing and it’s not even an issue anymore about figuring out what coverages we’re in or what are we running and stuff like that. So I’d probably just say detail-oriented.”