Nets' Owner, Coach, send mixed messages on tanking plans

 Any organization needs full alignment and a shared vision starting at the top of the organization on down to the players. 

It should comes as no surprise that a rudderless organization for the better part of its existence is having trouble getting on the same page. 

Speaking with Brian Lewis of the New York Post, Nets owner Joe Tsai shared a few concise, but direct thoughts on the upcoming season. 

Joe Tsai: “We have one pick in 2026, and we hope to get a good pick. So you can predict what kind of strategy we will use for this season. But we have a very young team.” #nets #nba 👇🏾 https://t.co/tx6pV4GVmY

— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) October 10, 2025

 After a 2024-25 campaign where the Nets did not truly tank and drew the eight spot in the NBA Draft Lottery, it seems that the plan is clear. 

Well, maybe to everyone but head coach, Jordi Fernandez. 

Jordi on Joe Tsai saying #Nets want a good draft pick: "He says he wants a good draft pick because no matter where we pick, our front office is so good we're going to pick a very good player...So whatever we pick, that's why he's excited because we're going to pick right." #NBA

— Brian Lewis (@NYPost_Lewis) October 12, 2025

 The Nets overachieved under Fernandez last season until ill-fated injuries became just too much to overcome. 

Brooklyn is expected to be among the NBA's bottom feeders, but an interesting dynamic will play out between the culture building and compete to the last whistle Fernandez, and the star-starved owner and front office that wants that next marquee young player to land in Brooklyn. 

While Tsai is not alone by declaring his team's intention to have one eye on the NBA Draft Lottery and tank,  his comments are likely fine-worthy as it flies in the face of the competitive landscape Adam Silver is trying to create. 

Perhaps Fernandez is trying to cover for his owner, but it's also possible the young coach loves taking on an immense challenge of taking a roster bereft of top tier talent and playoff experience into league relevance. 

Even large portions of the Nets fan base will root for losses to endure short-term pain for long-term gain. What Tsai and Marks may have overlooked is that folding is not in Fernandez's DNA. 

Good luck tanking with a coach that doesn't seem to be fully onboard with the marching orders from up top. 

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Nets make NBA history with latest head coaching hiring

 When the Brooklyn Nets hired former Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez to take over their head coaching duties, I'm not sure even they knew history was being made. 

As a respected coach across the league, Fernandez was voted the best assistant coach in a league GM survey. He's also the fifth ever European-born coach and the fifth youngest NBA coach ever to be hired. 

But all those facts pale in comparison to the fact that Fernandez is the first Spanish-born coach in NBA History.

There are only three Spanish-born players currently in the NBA and eleven total from Spanish speaking countries. 

Fernandez is adored and praised by his peers in the NBA and from Team Canada. The Nets are hoping that his worldly experience will help develop a roster that vastly underachieved in 2023-24.

Only time will tell, but Brooklyn can hold claim to setting league history by appointing Fernandez as the main man in charge.

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Will Nets regret not hiring championship winning coach?

The Brooklyn Nets had an opportunity this off-season to bring in a head coach with C

championship winning experience. In fact, a coach that perhaps took a ring away from the 2020-21 Nets squad. That man, Mike Budenholzer, was ultimately not hired and remains a head coaching free agent. 

According to Shams Charania, Budenholzer, Phoenix assistant Kevin Young, and Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez were among the finalists for Brooklyn's head coaching gig. 

It's unclear why this Nets regime opted for a neophyte head coach in Fernandez as opposed to a well-respected veteran in Budenholzer.

It's likely that Budenholzer commanded a longer term and more lucrative contract that Joe Tsai and Sean Marks were willing to dole out. 

The Nets were actually paying three head coaches this year in Jacque Vaughn, Steve Nash and then ultimately hiring a new candidate to replace the interim Kevin Ollie.

Budenholzer is clearly the ready made option for a roster that has immediate pressure to win and maximize the prime windows of Mikal Bridges and his running mate Cam Johnson. 

The majority of the Nets fan base is in a wait and see mode with Fernandez. It's very likely that the entire coaching philosophy will be vastly different from the past few years. Ultimately, Fernandez's tenure is only going to be measured by wins and losses.

Anytime an organization makes a bold move and passes up on a championship winning coach, they better have shrewd plans in mind to find the next diamond in the rough along the sidelines. 

The NBA is ultimately a players league, and superstars win come playoff time. But the Nets were often at a talent deficit and coaching deficit the past few years after trading. Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden. 

With out their own picks in the next few drafts, Marks is going to have to do the same creative maneuvering he did when he took over the Nets in 2016 in a similar position.

As for Hernandez, he's going to need to find a way to unlock Bridges and Cam Thomas to get this Brooklyn team back into the playoffs. 

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