The Brooklyn Nets looked like they found the right head coach in Jordi Fernandez and it seems like Fernandez built a solid coaching staff based off what the players have said. As Brooklyn looks to add more talent to the roster for the coaching staff to develop and lead, Fernandez may have to already think about how he would replace one of his more popular assistants.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Nets assistant coach Steve Hetzel is among the candidates for the Phoenix Suns head-coaching position. Following a disappointing season where the Suns finished with a 36-46 record under head coach Mike Budenholzer, Phoenix decided to fire Budenholzer one year after hiring him for the job following the firing of Frank Vogel.
“Among the candidates believed to have progressed in consideration for the post include one assistant coach still working in these playoffs (Minnesota’s Micah Nori),” Stein wrote. “Several assistants from eliminated teams (Brooklyn’s Steve Hetzel, Cleveland’s Johnnie Bryant and Jordan Ott, Dallas’ Sean Sweeney and New Orleans’ James Borrego) and one holdover from Budenholzer’s staff (two-time former NBA head coach David Fizdale) who could well be asked to stay on as part of a new coach’s bench.”
Hetzel has been an assistant coach in the NBA for the past 12 seasons, a journey that involved him spending time with the Detroit Pistons, Charlotte Hornets, Orlando Magic, and Portland Trail Blazers before joining Fernandez’s staff this past season. Hetzel has been helpful to Fernandez and the players on the staff, given that his area of expertise is in player development and on the defensive side of the ball.
As Stein reported, Hetzel is among seven candidates under consideration for the Suns’ head-coaching spot, including men like Borrego and Fizdale that have been head coaches in the league before. The competition is steep, but Hetzel has been one of the faster-rising names in the coaching ranks, but it’s fair to assume that Fernandez and company are hoping that Hetzel remains in Brooklyn.
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