Brooklyn Nets lose another coach; Pablo Prigioni to Minnesota Timberwolves
By Phil Watson
The raid on the Brooklyn Nets organization continued Friday as player development coach Pablo Prigioni accepted a deal as an assistant in Minnesota.
The Brooklyn Nets have been hit hard by other teams taking pieces away from the coaching and management teams and that drain continued Friday as player development coach Pablo Prigioni accepted a deal to become an assistant to head coach Ryan Saunders with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported the development on Friday.
Minnesota is hiring Brooklyn’s player development coach Pablo Prigioni as an assistant coach, league sources tell ESPN. Prigioni has common Rockets history with Minnesota President Gersson Rosas. He’ll focus on offensive end under coach Ryan Saunders.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 7, 2019
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There could be an ancillary benefit for the Timberwolves, who are shopping for a point guard upgrade this summer, as Prigioni was close with Nets free-agent-to-be D’Angelo Russell.
Russell had high praise for Prigioni, according to a piece from NBA.com Argentina‘s Sergio Rabinal that was published last week.
Russell and Joe Harris did the interviews with Rabinal in Spanish while visiting Madrid as part of a cross-promotion with the final of the UEFA Champions League played in Spain last weekend.
DeMarre Carroll, who spent the last two seasons in Brooklyn and will be an unrestricted free agent later this month, said the move is further confirmation of how far the Nets have come as an organization.
That’s crazy for that many people to leave a organization. Shows what having a good culture does. Two years ago when I arrived players and coaches was fighting just to stay relevant😂😂😂💯💯💯 https://t.co/1bAVj1hOLj
— DeMarre Carroll (@DeMarreCarroll1) June 7, 2019
Prigioni is the second member of head coach Kenny Atkinson’s staff to leave this offseason. Chris Fleming was hired by the Chicago Bulls to be the lead assistant to Jim Boylen.
The front office lost assistant general manager Trajan Langdon, now general manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, and global scouting director Gianlucca Pascucci, who joined the Timberwolves as an assistant general manager under the franchise’s new president, Gersson Rosas.
Prigioni issued a heartfelt thank you on social media.
I want to thanks the @BrooklynNets organization, specially to Sean and Kenny for the opportunity, the trust and also for understand the reasons why I need to move. You guys are running a super first class organization and i wana wish you nothing but the best. THANKS!!!
— Pablo Prigioni (@PPrigioni9) June 8, 2019
Prigioni, 42, joined the Nets’ staff in April 2018 after a very short stint as head coach of Spanish club Baskonia in 2017.
The Argentine point guard played professionally for 22 years, debuting with Ramallo in his native country as an 18-year-old in 1995. He played four years professionally in Argentina before making the jump to Spain in 1999.
In Spain, Prigioni was a three-time All-Spanish League selection and was also named to the All-EuroLeague team twice.
Undrafted by an NBA club, Prigioni made NBA history on Nov. 2, 2012, when he made his debut with the New York Knicks, becoming the oldest “rookie” in modern league history at age 35.
He played four seasons in the NBA with the Knicks, Houston Rockets and LA Clippers before returning to the Spanish League for a final season with Baskonia in 2016-17.
Prigioni played with Baskonia from 2003-09 and again in 2011-12 and 2016-17, winning a Spanish League title in 2008 and playing in eight EuroLeague campaigns with them, as well as two with Real Madrid. Prigioni led the EuroLeague in assists in 2005-06.
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Rosas and Prigioni were together in Houston when Rosas worked in the Rockets’ front office during Prigioni’s time there as a player.