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The Brooklyn Nets have changed considerably since the end of their 2023-24 season and one of those changes was adding former Sacramento Kings assistant Jordi Fernandez as the head coach. One of Fernandez’s hires, former Michigan head coach Juwan Howard, has lofty goals for himself and the Nets.
“I’m a (Miami) Heat lifer, but at the same token being with the Brooklyn Nets, this is going to be a new chapter and we’re going to build something special there,” Howard said on NBA TV during the Las Vegas Summer League (h/t to Adam Zagoria of NJ.com). After Howard’s NBA career ended, he spent six seasons as an assistant coach for the Heat before spending the past five seasons as the head coach of the Wolverines.
“We take [the next step together] by being all-in,” Howard said. “And that’s when it’s going good for you, as well as when it’s going bad for you. And it starts with our head coach. He’s bringing in a culture that he feels is going to put us over the top,” Howard said of Fernandez.
The hiring of Fernandez, along with trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in exchange for as many as five first-round picks and three players, signals that the Nets are concerned with youth and player development. Coaches like Howard bring plenty of experience from different levels of basketball and if Brooklyn is able to find its footing sooner than later, it is because of people like Howard and Fernandez bringing those aspirations to fruition.