Jacque Vaughn’s formal interview with the Brooklyn Nets was expected. He should be a legitimate candidate to take over full-time duties.
The Brooklyn Nets were always expected to interview interim head coach Jacque Vaughn for the full-time gig, but now it’s official. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Nets have done exactly that. Charania also adds that Vaughn “impressed ownership” during his interview.
We’re still a long way off from the Nets choosing a head coach, but Vaughn is a legitimate candidate at this point. After taking over for the ousted Kenny Atkinson, Vaughn led a severely undermanned squad to a 5-3 record in the bubble.
However, the first round of the playoffs was a much different story. Brooklyn was swept by the Toronto Raptors in four games with three of those losses coming by at least 24 points. The Nets had a chance to pull out a shocker in Game 2, but questionable late-game decisions by Vaughn cost the Nets at a chance to tie it.
Although that hot streak in the bubble was quickly put down by the Raptors, there were some positive takeaways from these Nets during their time in Orlando.
Caris LeVert was named to the NBA’s All-Bubble second team after averaging 25.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per game in the seeding games.
There are going to be a number of different candidates for this job, including longshot hopes like Gregg Popovich. Vaughn should be right in the thick of things for this gig, but it’s far too early to know for sure where he falls into the coaching search.
