Nets: Latest update on Gregg Popovich front is exciting for BKN fans

The latest update on the Nets coaching search is promising.

As many fans anticipated heading into the series, the Brooklyn Nets’ bewitching underdog bubble story came to an end over the weekend as they were swept in (mostly) convincing fashion by the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the playoffs.

The end of Brooklyn’s season means that the front office can officially get its coaching search underway. While the majority of fans have been extremely impressed by the incredible job Jacque Vaughn has done in his interim post, you really can’t help but get excited by this latest update.

According to insider Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Nets are interested in hiring Gregg Popovich away from the San Antonio Spurs, who missed the playoffs for the first time in 23 years this season after being eliminated from contention during the seeding games. We already new this, but the chase is intensifying and getting more realistic.

The job Vaughn has done while working with a largely improvised roster shouldn’t be understated, but you simply cannot pass on the opportunity to hire one of the most decorated coaches in NBA history.

Under Popovich’s tutelage, which has spanned 24 years, the Spurs put together 22 winning seasons, amassing a mind-boggling .675 winning percentage. He’s won five championships with San Antonio and has showcased a masterful ease when it comes to coaching superstars.

The Nets desperately need somebody with that proven experience as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who have yet to share the court together with this current roster, are sensitive than most stars in the league and have huge egos. If there’s anybody who can keep Brooklyn’s locker room and chemistry on the hardwood intact amid their respective returns, it’s Popovich.

It won’t be easy for the Nets to pry Pop from San Antonio, but it’s worth noting that general manager Sean Marks both played for and worked under the coaching legend as an assistant coach and assistant GM with the Spurs, so the fit and transition shouldn’t be much of a problem.

This is obviously only a rumor, but fans in Brooklyn have every right to feel enthused that the franchise is kicking the tires on hiring the future first-ballot Hall of Famer. After all, why else would the front office announce they’d be moving forward with a coaching search in the offseason if this wasn’t a possibility, especially after the job Vaughn has done?