Nets Are Scorching

Courtesy of ESPN:

ESPN’s Marc Stein is reporting that the Nets and Avery Johnson have reached a “verbal agreement” for Johnson to become the new head coach of the Nets.

I think this is the right move for the organization and if this remains true, the timing is good, because I would have hated to see him go to Atlanta as had been rumored.

Read some of Sebastian’s thoughts/analysis on Johnson here.

Since the unappealing outcome of the 2010 NBA Draft Lottery that saw the favored New Jersey Nets drop down to third overall pick instead of first, NAS has discussed the positives/negatives of DeMarcus Cousins and Derrick Favors at considerable length. Both youngsters declared for the Association after their freshman seasons at Kentucky and Georgia Tech, respectively, and are blessed with huge upside from the four and/or five positions. Read more…

Will Willie Warren be New Jersey’s second pick? At least one NetsAreScorching writer thinks so.

It’s June 9th, which means we are fifteen days away from the draft and therefore fifteen days away from (barring a trade) three new Nets players. The Nets currently own the rights to the 3rd overall pick (as we all know), the 27th overall pick, and the 31st overall pick (the first of the second round). This week, we’ll be looking at how the draft could play out up until that second Nets pick. A few changes occurred this week – a few trade rumors, a few workouts planned, but most notably Euro prospect Donatas Motiejunas decided to withdraw his name from the NBA draft, saying he wanted to work more on his game. I like the move & think he’s a really skilled player who could potentially go top-5 next year if he shows marked improvement.

Also, a fun fact: DC Pro Sports Report has added the NetsAreScorching Mock into its illustrious mock database. The site is great for looking at different mock trends as we come closer to the draft. Take a look if you get a chance.

Read more…

Well, you can forget Monty Williams, Tom Thibodeau, Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Brown, who are all, for one reason or another, out of the running for the Nets head coaching vacancy. So that really only leaves one choice, right? Fred Kerber believes Avery Johnson will be the next head coach, and though there is no final offer.

But several sources insist that Johnson has been and remains the leading choice — and that there were additional conversations with Thorn this week.

I have to be honest, while I like the choice of Johnson, I’ve been underwhelmed by Thorn’s coaching search process-wise, and I hope this isn’t a sign to how he’s going to test the free agent market. From what I can gather, his outreach to Tom Thibodeau, a guy I really wanted to bring in here, was limited to periphery phone calls. I don’t even think he ever met with Monty Williams, who many consider the best assistant coach in the NBA. JVG clearly had no interest here, and I think we dodged a bullet with Mike Brown taking himself out of the running. So it leaves really the only guy they’ve formally interviewed according to published reports. What was this talk about “five or six guys” and a “surprise.” If pretending for half a day you’re going to wait for the Finals to end to interview Phil Jackson is a “surprise,” then I must be getting cynical in my old age. One can only hope that while Thorn contemplates his next move, Avery isn’t scooped up elsewhere.