Steve

Nash

A basketball legend in his native country of Canada, Nash most recently served as the Nets’ head coach. While he did win more than 58% of his games in Brooklyn, Nash’s teams failed to meet expectations, as the franchise expected to be a bona fide title contender after adding Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden to the roster. Instead, injuries and other off-court issues proved too much for the Nets to overcome, as their “big three” wasn’t on the court together often enough during Nash’s tenure.

A day after getting his second win of the season, Nash has been released. In the middle of a back-to-back, Jacque Vaughn will serve as the acting head coach against Chicago on Tuesday. Woj reported that the decision was mutual between Nash and Brooklyn. The Nets had high expectations coming into this season after a summer of turmoil. After a 2-5 start, they apparently felt that a change in leadership was necessary to turn their season around.

The Nets signed T.J. Warren and Edmond Sumner today, which is some solid depth behind their superstar duo. Trading away KD and Kyrie will likely be very difficult, as most teams wouldn’t be willing to part with what the Nets are asking for. There will still be a list of suitors for Durant, and the Lakers will continue to have interest in Irving, but Brooklyn is prepping to have them both back next season while actively fielding offers.

Nash said he was asymptomatic, which is always good to hear. He’ll return just in time to coach the healthiest lineup that the Nets have had since Kevin Durant went down. This will be the first time that KD and Kyrie Irving will play together with the new acquisitions Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and Goran Dragic and just the fourth time that KD and Kyrie have started together this season.

Assistant coach Jacque Vaughn will handle the coaching duties tonight, as if the Nets needed any more problems right now.

With LaMarcus Aldridge (foot) ruled out, and Kyrie Irving ineligible to play, the Nets are rolling with the same starting five. Claxton and Mills should be excellent DFS options against a short-handed Spurs team.

“It’s not easy, but I support the decision. If things change, we’d love to have Kyrie back.” Nash said. Nets star James harden also chimed in and had similar thoughts to Nash. “Kyrie believes in his beliefs& he stands firmly,” Harden said. “We respect it, we all love Ky. But we have a job to do, and individually myself, I’m still wanting to set myself up for a championship. The entire organization is on the same path.”

The game will be played at 4pm ET without fans in attendance. Kyrie Irving was due to miss Monday’s game for personal reasons, so we’re operating under the assumption that he’s still out. The same goes for LaMarcus Aldridge, who was listed ‘out’ on Monday due to a non-COVID illness. This also means that when the Nets play in Philly vs. the top-seeded Sixers on Wednesday, they’ll be on the second night of a back-to-back.

The Twins vs. Red Sox MLB game has also been postponed in wake of unrest in Minneapolis following the police shooting of Daunte Wright. Per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the game could be rescheduled for Tuesday, but things remain fluid.

The Nets ranked No. 10 in pace last season, but there’s a good chance they’ll be in the top-3 with Nash at the helm, which means more fantasy goodness for all those involved. Nash also said that Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen have been developing at “an exciting rate,” and he’s looking forward to coaching them. Allen started for the Nets last year, but he may need to again beat out DeAndre Jordan for the starting spot at camp under his new coach; LeVert could also face some competition from Joe Harris for a starting role if Harris is retained as a free agent.