The Brooklyn Nets saw their coach, Lionel Hollins, get fired and their general manager, Billy King, get reassigned over the weekend in a mid-season shake-up that many saw coming. Since winning 49 games in the 2012-2013 season, their first in Brooklyn after moving from New Jersey, the Nets have continued to decline, winning 44 games in 2013-2014, and just 38 last year. Outside of perennial powerhouses Cleveland and Chicago, the Eastern Conference has been so middling of late, the Nets qualified for the playoffs in each of those seasons, but there’s been a revolving door at the head coaching position, and they’ve had to trade several players that they gave up a wealth of draft picks for in the past few years, including Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Deron Williams. This year, the Nets have been terrible, posting a record of just 10-27 through 37 games, with no hopeful outlook for postseason play come April.
If owner Mikhail Prokhorov wants to turn around his team’s fortune, he needs to at least find a coach that the organization can hedge its bets on for more than one season. Since 2012, Brooklyn has seen Avery Johnson, P.J. Carlesimo, Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins calling plays on the sideline, and they’re reportedly looking to Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari–a recruiting legend, national champion and highly successful NCAA Divison 1 coach–to be part of their antidote.
Outside of Duke Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski, Calipari is easily the most coveted college coach in the country, and has had conversations in the past with the Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings about returning to the NBA (it should be noted that the Kings and Pelicans are where Tyreke Evans, Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins play, all of whom were groomed to be top flight draft prospects by Calipari at Kentucky and Memphis). He won’t have the luxury of re-uniting with any former Wildcats on the Nets, but if any team is willing to throw a bucket of money at their coach of the future, it would be the Nets and their multi-billionaire owner Prokhorov. Just how much money? Try $120 million. That’s the figure Calipari is reportedly looking at, according to SB Nation, who say last year, the Kings were informed that it would take 10 years, $120 million to pry away from the boys in blue.
Will the Nets take the leap?
