The Brooklyn Nets didn’t waste much time finding a successor to Jason Kidd and on Wednesday agreed to a four-year deal with Lionel Collins to be the team’s head coach, the team announced on Wednesday.
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Marc Stein reports the deal is in the $18 million range. Hollins takes over for Kidd who left in a power struggle with management to take the head coaching job with the Milwaukee Bucks with a chance he may be able to add president of basketball operations to his title in the near future.
Hollins deal w/ Nets could be worth as much as 4 years, $20 million if team picks up his 4th year option
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 2, 2014
After coaching the Memphis Grizzlies from 2009-2013, Hollins was out of the NBA last season for the first time since 2007, but the Nets may have made a significant upgrade on the bench with Hollins replacing Kidd who left after one season as the team’s head coach.
For his career, Hollins owns a 214-201 career record and led the Grizzlies to the Western Conference Playoffs in his final three seasons with the franchise. His best season was his last season in Memphis when he led the Grizzlies to a 55-26 record and to the Western Conference Finals.
The Nets land a veteran head coach who has coached in the NBA for a number of years and has developed talent in both the IBL and USBL with the Las Vegas Silver Bandits and Saint Louis Skyhawks, respectively.
Like Kidd, Hollins is also a former point guard who will be able to relate to the players on his roster, especially Deron Williams, and be a strong voice in the locker room and could even help the Nets pursuit of retaining free agent Paul Pierce.