Former Pelicans coach and current Thunder assistant coach Monty Williams is among the names in contention for the freshly opened Nets vacancy, as NetsDaily has been told (Twitter link). Much of the attention has surrounded long-ago Nets coach John Calipari, but he reportedly wants a dual coach/executive role, and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a press conference today that he’d prefer to have a separate coach and GM. Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com heard that the Nets could consider St. John’s coach Chris Mullin, but it’s unclear whether his source was merely speculating.
Williams has quickly built a strong bond with soon-to-be free agent Kevin Durant since joining the Thunder staff in the offseason, which certainly won’t hurt the coach’s candidacy for any NBA vacancy. He’s also close with Anthony Davis, his former Pelicans player, but Davis just signed a five-year extension with New Orleans this past summer, shortly after the team canned Williams.
New Orleans experienced an 11-win improvement last year in its final season under Williams, going 45-37 and grabbing the final playoff spot in the Western Conference before falling to the Warriors in a first-round sweep. It was the first time New Orleans had gone to the playoffs since the 2010/11 season, Williams’ first year as coach, when the then-Hornets lost in six games to the Lakers. The New Orleans job is his only NBA head coaching gig to date, though he spent five seasons as a Trail Blazers assistant before he took it, and he’s also served as an assistant coach for Team USA.
Do you think Williams would make sense for the Nets? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Even though it’s in a big market, I’m not sure this is an attractive job by any means. With that in mind, any coach with experience would be a nice fit. If I was a coach with experience, I’d want at least a five year deal to coach here. It’s just going to be a while before this team turns it around.
i prefer monty python to monty williams
WHERE DOES BILLY KING END UP?
No more all-caps, please.
The second coming of Red Auerbach reincarnated couldn’t help the Nets in their current state. No players, no draft choices for 3 more years, no free agent in his right mind would sign on with this USS Titanic of a sinking NETS ship unless it was a selfish money grab.
The Nets truly need a head coach with roster control. There is no direction with this team and certainly no unification of philosophy. With prospective coaches, the desire for complete roster control is not simply a desire for power, but rather a practical unification of ideas and application. The Nets have neither ideas nor practical pieces to implement them. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Tom Thibodeau get a 4-year offer with coaching and front office control. If Prokhorov is opposed to the idea of a coach having front office control, though, that won’t be on the table — not a smart strategy from a basketball standpoint, even if it’s preferable from the business side.