The Brooklyn Nets are rewarding head coach Jacque Vaughn with a multi-year extension by succeeding throughout a tumultuous season at Barclays Center in 2022-2023.
The Nets have been embroiled in locker-room drama over the last few seasons. Despite having three legitimate superstar players on the roster at what point, it wasn’t long before that house of cards started to fall, and it all crumbled during this season.
Earlier in the ’22-’23 campaign, the Brooklyn Nets dismissed head coach Steve Nash after two and half seasons and handed assistant coach Jacque Vaughn a messy situation that seemed doomed for a miserable finish. However, the 48-year-old circled the wagons, picked up the pieces, refocused the team and help them rise back to prominence in the Eastern Conference.
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During his time as head coach, the Nets have gone 32-19 and been one of the better teams in the NBA. While the squad is likely to have a tough final couple of months, after both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant forced their way out of Brooklyn before the NBA trade deadline, the organization is rewarding Vaughn for his efforts despite the drama that has hovered over the team all season.
On Tuesday, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that “Jacque Vaughn had shed the interimearlier this season with a team option on next year — and now gets extended for multiple years past the 2023-2024 season.”
Many of the Brooklyn Nets’ decisions over the last few years can be questioned, however, aside from trading Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, extending Vaughn even more years is the best move the organization has made in a long time.
While Jacque Vaughn failed miserably in his three seasons as the head coach for the Orlando Magic, the same fate would have befallen any coach with a roster devoid of perennial All-Star players. In just a couple of months with two legit stars, Vaughn had the Nets within striking distance of the best record in the NBA. You need stars to succeed in the NBA and Vaughn showed if given the talent he can do so at an elite level.
The Brooklyn Nets won’t give him that over the next few months, however, without certain big personalities around, the head coach can develop a culture and see if he can mold certain players into linchpins of a winning unit the organization has plans of adding pieces to sooner than later.
Already in a short amount of time, Vaughn has gotten some outstanding performances out of young talents like Cam Thomas and Mikal Bridges. Giving the Brooklyn Nets and their fan base reason to believe Vaughn can keep the team in playoff contention despite the lack of big-name talent on the current roster the rest of the season.