Jacque Vaughn deserves a longer look beyond the Nets playoff run.
The Brooklyn Nets playoff chances are have never been less of an indicator of overall franchise stability.
Entering 2020-21, the Nets will feature the services of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Spencer Dinwiddie, none of whom will be on the floor when head coach Jacque Vaughn toes the sidelines for whatever remains of Brooklyn’s time in Orlando. Whether you believe in Vaughn’s future or not (and it’s clear the organization does, at least somewhat), you can’t possibly judge him on whatever happens with a taxi squad in a one-month bubble in Orlando.
If you allow his tenure consisting of eight split-squad exhibition games, followed by a playoff series against the league’s two-seed (at best), to cloud your judgment, you’ve lost your marbles. Luckily, GM Sean Marks is already thinking ahead.
#Nets GM: Jacque Vaughn not being judged on 'wins and losses' in #NBA restart https://t.co/wfRf4NEIYr via @nypostsports
— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) July 2, 2020
If Durant and Irving have serious issues with or reservations about Vaughn, then that’s an entirely different story. But why would his hire have even gotten to this point, in that case?
Marks said it best, when he assured the New York Post , “The evaluation is ongoing. It started quite some time ago. It’s completely unfair to say it’s going to be about wins and losses at this point. Jacque has been a prominent part of this organization the last four years.”
Marks, of course, has also kept tabs on Vaughn since 2011, when he joined the Spurs front office while Vaughn was an assistant in San Antonio.
We’d be remiss, also, if we didn’t bring up the most vexing and indicative point of all: outwardly, the most attractive hire on the coaching carousel this offseason is…Kenny Atkinson. He’s not coming back. So why would the Nets jeopardize Vaughn’s future and import more uncertainty?
Jacque Vaughn has talked to new addition Tyler Johnson, who is eager to help the Nets. Said it will be a challenge getting Johnson, who last played with the Suns in February, up to NBA speed and to par with the Nets system.
— Alex Schiffer (@Alex__Schiffer) July 1, 2020
This Nets playoff run is destined to be short, strange, and semi-catastrophic, with distractions inherent at every turn in the season’s restart. Imagine judging a head coach off of that?
Nah. Marks would rather consider the nine-year body of work in his overall evaluation. As he should.