The Brooklyn Nets have interest in former NBA head coaches Tom Thibodeau and Mark Jackson as replacements for the recently fired Lionel Hollins.
According to Sporting News’ Mitch Lawrence, the Brooklyn Nets reportedly have interest in hiring former Chicago Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau as the franchise’s next head coach.
The Nets have reached out to Tom Thibodeau about coming to Brooklyn to coach their team, per NBA sources.
— Mitch Lawrence (@Mitch_Lawrence) January 13, 2016
ESPN’s Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo wrote a piece earlier Wednesday about whoever ends up becoming the Nets’ next general manager pursuing “one of the top available coaches, such as Tom Thibodeau or Mark Jackson.”
It seems that the Nets organization in their complete overhaul will want to have both marquee names as both general manager and as head coach. They’ve expressed interest in former Phoenix Suns and Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo.
While current Kentucky Wildcats head coach and former New Jersey Nets head coach John Calipari would need a reported 10-year, $120 million contract to leave Lexington, Brooklyn could still get a great coach in hiring either Thibodeau or Jackson who wouldn’t command anywhere near that much money.
Thibodeau is arguably the best defensive mind the NBA has seen in the last decade plus. He was the architect of Doc Rivers’ defenses during the Big Three era in Boston (Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce). He did interview for the Nets’ job six years ago, but ended up coaching the Chicago Bulls to relevancy the last five years in the Windy City.
Chicago was a dominant defensive team under Thibodeau, but often ran out of gas come playoff time due to his overly aggressive coaching style, combined with poor management of minutes.
Jackson helped turn around the Golden State Warriors for a few years and helped get the Splash Brothers of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on the map. After the 2013-14 NBA season, the Golden State from office may a bold decision to go from good to great by firing Jackson in favor of rookie head coach Steve Kerr. Golden State went on to win its first NBA Championship in 40 years under Kerr’s guidance.
With the massive hole that the Brooklyn front office put themselves in, the Nets head coaching job isn’t a great one anymore, as it may end up taking several years to get the Nets back into the Eastern Conference Playoffs. However, should either Thibodeau or Jackson want to get back into coaching…now…they may lead the Nets for the rest of 2016 and beyond as their new head coach. Both have earned another head coaching opportunity in the NBA after their first gigs have come to an end.