NBA · 1 year ago

Top 5 Head Coaching Candidates for Brooklyn Nets for 2024-25

Ben DiGiacomo

Host · Writer

Sam Cassell
I’m shocked Sam Cassell hasn’t been a head coach yet in this league because that’s how awesome I think he is as an assistant. Currently, in his first season as the lead assistant on Joe Mazzulla’s staff in Boston, Cassell spent multiple seasons under Doc Rivers in Philadelphia, where he’s credited with the growth of Tyrese Maxey. In Boston, we’ve seen Derrick White take a massive step forward under his leadership, so he is the teacher Brooklyn needs for the rebuild. Plus, after being surrounded by huge personalities in Philadelphia and Boston, he can be trusted to manage expectations when Brooklyn inevitably pursues another superstar.
Kevin Ollie
Kevin Ollie will have the first crack at the Nets’ full-time coaching gig, and I don’t think it would be a complete surprise if he remains in Brooklyn next season. Ollie has interviewed for various NBA jobs, most recently for the Pistons’ head coach job last summer, but ultimately landed in Brooklyn as an assistant coach under Jacque Vaughn. After coaching UConn from 2012 to 2018, winning the 2014 National Championship in the process, Ollie got back into coaching within the professional circuit as the head coach of Overtime Elite from 2021 through 2023. Brooklyn is willing to promote interim head coaches as they did with Vaughn after Steve Nash’s firing, so it wouldn’t be a shock for Ollie to stick around if he succeeds over the next two months.
Kevin Young
Kevin Young is widely considered to be one of the NBA’s best assistant coaches, as the Phoenix Suns made him the league’s highest-paid assistant coach after they opted to hire Frank Vogel over him after the departure of Monty Williams. Seen as a future head coach, reuniting Young with Mikal Bridges would make perfect sense from Brooklyn’s standpoint, given the regression Bridges has seen this year. Hopefully, a familiar presence could re-ignite the spark we saw in Bridges last season. Given his contract, it is easy to imagine Young not leaving Phoenix for just any job. Still, the appeal of a big market like Brooklyn and an aggressive owner might be too much to pass up.
Mike Budenholzer
If the Nets are looking for an established presence to lead the team, no one on the market is more accomplished than Mike Budenholzer. After being fired in Milwaukee after the Bucks’ first-round collapse last season, Coach Bud has a championship and has shown an ability to build winners at Milwaukee and Atlanta. It will be interesting to see if any contenders fire their head coach at the end of the season because it would make sense for Bud to slide into a team looking to win now. Still, if no jobs like that are available, Brooklyn’s would be the most desirable one on the market.
JJ Redick
The Nets already hired one head coach off the streets when they hired Steve Nash to pair with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, so who is to say they won’t do it again? JJ Redick is a well-respected NBA veteran within basketball circles and has interviewed for assistant coaching jobs in the past and, most recently, for the head coaching position with the Raptors in the last offseason. Redick wouldn’t leave the broadcast booth for any job, but as a resident of Brooklyn, it would be much easier for Redick to answer the call.
Sam Cassell
I’m shocked Sam Cassell hasn’t been a head coach yet in this league because that’s how awesome I think he is as an assistant. Currently, in his first season as the lead assistant on Joe Mazzulla’s staff in Boston, Cassell spent multiple seasons under Doc Rivers in Philadelphia, where he’s credited with the growth of Tyrese Maxey. In Boston, we’ve seen Derrick White take a massive step forward under his leadership, so he is the teacher Brooklyn needs for the rebuild. Plus, after being surrounded by huge personalities in Philadelphia and Boston, he can be trusted to manage expectations when Brooklyn inevitably pursues another superstar.
Kevin Ollie
Kevin Ollie will have the first crack at the Nets’ full-time coaching gig, and I don’t think it would be a complete surprise if he remains in Brooklyn next season. Ollie has interviewed for various NBA jobs, most recently for the Pistons’ head coach job last summer, but ultimately landed in Brooklyn as an assistant coach under Jacque Vaughn. After coaching UConn from 2012 to 2018, winning the 2014 National Championship in the process, Ollie got back into coaching within the professional circuit as the head coach of Overtime Elite from 2021 through 2023. Brooklyn is willing to promote interim head coaches as they did with Vaughn after Steve Nash’s firing, so it wouldn’t be a shock for Ollie to stick around if he succeeds over the next two months.

Top 5 Head Coaching Candidates for Brooklyn Nets for 2024-25

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