It looks like New Jersey Nets head coach and former San Antonio Spurs guard Avery Johnson is looking to bring the Spurs’ winning tradition on board with him.
According to northjersey.com, Johnson is looking to add former Spurs assistant coach P.J. Carlesimo and former Spurs player Mario Elie to his coaching staff. Of course, nothing will be officially decided until the lockout is over and these are just rumors, but it would certainly be a positive step for the Nets.
Carlesimo has had an up and down coaching career but definitely had some success when he coached under Gregg Popovich, so maybe back in an assisting role he’ll be a nice complement to AJ. However, his time as head coach for the Seattle Supersonics/Oklahoma City Thunder wasn’t the greatest after a 1–12 start with the Thunder in 2008.
Elie is still young in his coaching career but has a history of winning. He won an NBA championship in San Antonio alongside Johnson in 1999, but he’ll have his work cut out for him trying to turn around the Nets who only won 24 games last year.
I’m always a fan of team chemistry, even in the coaching staff. So if Johnson can build a solid group around him, the Nets have enough young talent to make a playoff run. This would be an even better decision for the organization than moving the team to Brooklyn!
