DREAM V. REALITY
Nets have eyes on Pop, but Lue likely leader
With the Nets’ 2019-20 season behind them, now they can officially start looking toward who will coach them in 2020-21 and beyond.
With a Kevin Durant/Kyrie Irving–led team built to win now, it figures they’d be linked to reunions with championship-pedigreed coaches who would bring rings to Brooklyn — from the favorite (Tyronn Lue) to the farfetched (Gregg Popovich). Nets GM Sean Marks has a list of candidates, believed to include the likes of interim Jacque Vaughn, Jason Kidd, Jeff Van Gundy and Ime Udoka. But Popovich and Lue will draw the most attention, for obvious reasons.
Popovich is the unquestioned dean of NBA coaches, with five rings and a career sure to place him in the Hall of Fame. He also mentored Marks, who won titles in San Antonio as a player and assistant, and saw 10 former Spurs assistants or front-office personnel eventually follow Marks to Brooklyn.
Could he join them? Yes. Is it probable? No.
The Athletic reported that Popovich would be the Nets’ “dream candidate,” and that’s true. Marks is too meticulous not to exhaust every avenue to acquire the best in the sport, and despite whatever compensation Spurs CEO R.C. Buford would extract, Popovich is the best. But it’s more of a pipe dream than a pending reality.
“Pop has a job; so I’ll say that,” Marks said on WFAN. “And, obviously we all know he’s an amazing, amazing coach, and to be quite frank, an even better leader. So, I’ll let Pop continue to coach for the Spurs. He owes it to them and they owe it to him. I’m sure he’s quite happy there.”
At 71, Popovich is drawing toward the end of his career, and was asked last month if he’d be back to coach the Spurs in 2020-21.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Popovich shot back.
Popovich has been in San
Antonio since 1996, or two years before Nets center Jarrett Allen was even born.
Still, the Spurs are in rebuild mode. The Nets have Durant and Irving, with Popovich and the Spurs having pursued Durant during 2016 free agency and Irving having put San Antonio on his list of preferred 2017 trade destinations.
And of course, Popovich likes New York and loves Marks like family.
“He’s a great friend of the whole family.
We’ve been rooting for his success and the success of their group since he went,” Popovich said last year. “It’s obviously very positive and going in the right direction, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
Assuming Popovich is unrealistic, The Post and others have reported that Lue is expected to be a top candidate despite competition for his services. He reached three NBA Finals in Cleveland, and won the 2016 title on Irving’s iconic shot to beat the Warriors.
Currently a Clippers assistant, Lue is wanted by both New Orleans and Philadelphia. But Lue reportedly “wants to coach a contending team and is intrigued with the Sixers,” according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, which adds he’s expecting an offer from the Nets.
Irving is believed to be open to an encore, while Joe Harris was also on that Cavs team and called Lue an “excellent” coach.
“The way he was able to relate with the players, especially just day-to day was pretty unique in terms of a coaching perspective,” Harris told The Post earlier. “I always liked that about him, just his ability to jell and mesh with everybody.”
➤ Durant, in a Youtube interview with the Seattle Storm’s Breanna Stewart, said he’d been playing five-on-five before the pandemic hit but has gone three-on-three four times a week for the past three months because it’s hard to find 10 players. He’ll ramp back up to five-on-five “and then whenever they call me you’ve got to be ready.”