Brooklyn Nets Make Huge Move: "This Team Has Been Pretty Dreadful"

This season just hasn't gone as expected for the Brooklyn Nets, who were hoping to take the next step in their rebuild after all their major trades last season. But they have stumbled to a 21-33 record, currently in 11th spot, out of a Play-In opportunity by two games. And with that, the team has decided to relieve head coach Jacque Vaughn of his duties.

The Brooklyn Nets dismissed coach Jacque Vaughn on Monday morning, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/WjGyf1jONY

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 19, 2024

Vaughn was brought in early last season after Steve Nash was fired following a brutal start to the year and discord amongst the team and its tough-to-handle superstars. The Nets responded nicely to Vaughn, and recovered after dealing off Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to finish 6th in the Conference at 45-37. 

Vaughn then signed a multi-year extension with the Nets one year ago. 

But this year has been a struggle, and as noted by Shams Charania, "this team has been pretty dreadful ever since the new year." Several players voiced concerns behind the scenes, Shams said, about how the offense was running.
Vaughn had apparently built a lot of their offense around Ben Simmons at training camp, which of course, is never a good idea, as he is very rarely available to play. He's played only 12 games this season, after a mediocre 42 games last year.

Vaughn has now offered his response to his dismissal, via ESPN: “To Joe Tsai, Clara Wu-Tsai, Ollie Weisberg, Sam Zussman, Sean Marks and front office, Nets coaches, staff, players, BSE family and the entire Brooklyn borough: It was a pleasure being your Head Coach. I hope each individual I interacted with felt respected and valued. Just know I gave you everything I had every single day. Onto the next chapter. Amor Fati.”

Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports