Official announcement! Official change of coach! 5 head coaches in 4 years
On April 17, Beijing time, the Nets officially announced that they had officially hired Jordi Fernandez as the team's head coach. Holdie Fernandez is the assistant coach of the Kings, and the Kings are playing the play-in game today, and they probably want to scold their mothers: Can't you poach people later? The Nets also interviewed former Bucks championship coach Budenholzer.
It may be that Buden is too expensive, and the Nets end up choosing Fernandez. Truth be told, the Nets decided a little early. By the time the playoffs are over, there may be a few more coaches out of class, and it will be too late to choose a coach at that time. From 2020 to the present, in just four years, the Nets have changed 5 head coaches, can they still be saved?
In the summer of 2019, Durant and Irving joined the Nets as head coach at Atkinson. The 2019-20 season is not over, that is, on March 7, 2020, the Nets fired Atkinson, and head assistant coach Jacques Vaughn served as interim coach. Atkinson's record in charge of the Nets is 118-190, with a winning rate of only 38.3%!
On September 3, 2020, Nash became the head coach of the Nets. On January 14, 2021, the Nets traded for Harden and officially formed the Big Three. Nash has a good personal relationship with Boss Cai, but he does have too little coaching experience. Coupled with the fact that the Big Three only played a dozen games together, the Nets' record did not improve. On November 2, 2022, Nash left class.
Before Nash stepped down, the Big Three had disintegrated: in February 2022, Harden requested a trade to join the 76ers, and the Big Three only played a total of 16 games (including the playoffs)! Nash has a 94-67 coaching record with the Nets, a winning percentage of 58.4%, he is the head coach with the highest winning percentage in the history of the Nets, but the Nets have only won one round of the playoffs.
On Nov. 10, 2022, eight days after Nash left class, Nets chief assistant coach Jacque Vaughn became the team's head coach. In December 2022, Vaughn led the Nets to a 12-1 record and was named the best head coach in the East. Many fans thought that the Nets could get back on track. But Irving's contract extension negotiations failed, and Durant has long wanted to leave the team.
In the summer of 2022, Durant applied for a trade for the first time and was appeased by Boss Cai. On February 4, 2023, Irving requested a trade and was sent to the Mavericks. Around the same time, Durant requested a trade for the second time. On February 9, 2023, Durant was traded to the Suns. Vaughn used to have two giants, but now there is no one.
After Durant and Irving left, on February 21, 2023, the Nets signed Vaughn to a multi-year contract extension, which is also quite confusing. A year later, on February 19, 2024, the Nets fired Vaughn. Why did you sign that multi-year contract? Vaughn had a 71-68 record in the regular season and a 0-8 record in the playoffs!
The Nets didn't immediately look for a head coach, but instead made assistant coach Kevin Ollie the team's interim head coach for two months. The Nets are 32-50 this season and only 11th in the East. Simmons played five games at a time, Bridges couldn't be the team leader, and even more heartbreakingly, the Nets didn't have many draft picks left.
Last question, do you think the Nets can still be saved?