© Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Nets Planning To Hire Kings' Fernandez as Next Head Coach
Sacramento's top assistant has reportedly found a new home in Brooklyn.
After 16 dreadful years of playoff-less basketball for the Sacramento Kings, the struggling franchise broke the cursed drought and returned to the postseason in the 2022-23 season. Despite a revamped roster and All-Star duo of De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, many credit Sacramento's success to the tandem of head coach Mike Brown and associate head coach Jordi Fernandez.
Fernandez spent six seasons as an assistant with the Denver Nuggets before making the move to Sacramento, immediately catching the attention of teams around the league in need of a head coach. After clearing the cycle in the 2023 off-season and staying in Sacramento, all Kings fans knew his departure was inevitable.
The coaching carousel continues to spin, with many teams already searching for their next leader. The Brooklyn Nets have been one of those teams since firing Jacque Vaughn in February, but their two-month search seems to be coming to a close.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Nets are closing in on hiring Sacramento's Fernandez to become their next head coach.
Wojnarowski states that Fernandez will continue to coach the Kings until the conclusion of their 2024 post-season run, which could be as early as Tuesday night when they face the Golden State Warriors in a win-or-go-home play-in tournament matchup.
Fernandez has been one of the league's top assistants for years, and the opportunity to take the reins of the Nets franchise is one he cannot pass up. While it will hurt Sacramento to replace a coaching talent like Fernandez, Kings fans should be ecstatic about his opportunity in Brooklyn.
With Fernandez on the move, one of Sacramento's top off-season priorities will be finding his replacement.
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