Ryan Forehan-Kelly Rumors

Nets Officially Announce Changes To Coaching Staff

June 20th, 2023 at 10:05am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets were among the teams to make an in-season coaching change this past season, replacing Steve Nash with Jacque Vaughn in November. Even though he spent nearly the entire 2022/23 season running the Nets, Vaughn didn’t get a chance to reshape his coaching staff until this spring.

Vaughn is taking advantage of that opportunity, with the Nets issuing a press release on Tuesday to formally announce several changes to their coaching staff.

The new additions, some of which were previously reported, are as follows:

Kevin Ollie (assistant coach), the former head coach of UConn and Overtime Elite.
Will Weaver (assistant coach), who has coached the Sydney Kings and (this past season) Paris Basketball internationally. He’s also a veteran NBA assistant who had a previous stint in Brooklyn as a Nets assistant (2016-18) and coach of the Long Island Nets (2018/19).
Jay Hernandez (assistant coach), who was an assistant coach and the director of player development with the Hornets for the past five seasons.
Ronnie Burrell (assistant coach), the head coach of the Long Island Nets in 2022/23.
Corey Vinson (assistant coach/player development), a former player development coach with the Suns.

According to today’s announcement, the Nets will retain assistant coach and director of player development Adam Caporn, as well as assistants Trevor Hendry and Ryan Forehan-Kelly. They all worked under Nash and will be holdovers under Vaughn as he prepares for his first full season as Brooklyn’s head coach.

Nets Officially Announce Coaching Staff

October 30th, 2020 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets have officially announced the coaching staff for new head coach Steve Nash, confirming in a press release that Mike D’Antoni and Ime Udoka will be assistants, while Amar’e Stoudmire is coming aboard as a player development coach. Those hires were all previously reported.

In addition to the newcomers, Nash will retain former interim head coach Jacque Vaughn, as expected. Assistant coaches Adam Harrington, Jordan Ott, and Tiago Splitter will also remain with the team, as will player development coordinator Ryan Forehan-Kelly.

“We’ve assembled an experienced staff of high-character individuals with varied backgrounds, both on and off the court, that will help create a solid foundation for me and our players,” Nash said in a statement. “When I set out to build this staff, I wanted to put together a committed group that would connect with our players and help put them in the best position to succeed as a team. With coaching and playing experience at the highest level and a deep background in player development, I’m confident that we’ve put the right people in place to lead us forward.”

Nash, a first-time head coach, has plenty of veteran experience on his new staff, including a pair of former head coaches in D’Antoni and Vaughn. He’ll likely lean on D’Antoni to help run the offense, while Udoka focuses primarily on Brooklyn’s defense, as Chris Milholen of NetsDaily writes.

Atlantic Notes: Ntilikina, Adel, Raptors, Nets Staff

September 23rd, 2019 at 5:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Frank Ntilikina‘s last coach in the French Pro A League told the enigmatic Knicks guard that he must build off his strong showing the FIBA World Cup, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reports. Vincent Collet knows this could be a make-or-break year for the lottery pick. Ntilikina helped Team France win a bronze medal in the tournament. “I told him he must keep going,” Collet told Vorkunov. “He must take advantage of the World Cup. When you start the camp, you must show them you are not the same Frank anymore.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Nets’ G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, acquired the returning player rights to Deng Adel from Raptors 905, according to a team press release. Brooklyn had already signed the small forward to an Exhibit 10 contract. Adel played on a two-way contract with the Cavaliers during the second half of last season, then became a free agent. Long Island also acquired the returning player rights of JaKarr Sampson from the Windy City Bulls in the three-team G league swap. Sampson signed with the Pacers in August.
The five players who have partially guaranteed contracts with the Raptors will likely compete for three roster spots, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic details in an examination of the team’s salary cap situation. A dozen players have fully guaranteed deals and will almost assuredly make the squad. That leaves Cameron Payne, Isaiah Taylor, Dewan Hernandez, Chris Boucher and Malcolm Miller vying for the remaining spots on the 15-man opening night roster. Hernandez might have the biggest edge because he has the most guaranteed money and the most team-friendly contract long-term, Murphy adds.
Former NBA center Tiago Splitter has been promoted by the Nets to player development coach, according to a team press release. Splitter joined the organization after retiring in February 2018. The other staff additions or promotions included J.R. Holden (director of player personnel), Daniel Jones (physical performance coach) and Ryan Forehan-Kelly (player development coordinator).

Nets Notes: Holden, Chandler, Harris

August 6th, 2019 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The Nets are expected to hire Sixers international scout J.R. Holden to serve as the team’s new director of player personnel, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Holden, who played overseas from 1998-2011, winning a pair of EuroLeague championships during that time, has also scouted for the Pistons since retiring as a player.

Holden will inject some more new talent into a front office that lost multiple key executives this offseason. Gianluca Pascucci joined the Timberwolves, while Trajan Langdon headed to New Orleans. The Nets have also hired Andy Birdsong and Jeff Peterson as assistant GMs to help replenish the group around Sean Marks.

Michael Scotto of The Athletic has updates on a couple more changes by the Nets, reporting (via Twitter) that the club will name Ryan Forehan-Kelly as its player development coordinator, with Shaun Fein set to assume head coaching duties for the Long Island Nets, Brooklyn’s G League affiliate.

Here’s more on the Nets:

Tom Noie of The South Bend Tribune profiled new Nets forward Wilson Chandler, who recognizes that he’s not being brought in to have the same sort of impact as fellow free agent signees like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. “I’m one of the soldiers who goes out there for the generals and the captains. I’m on the support team and rightfully so,” Chandler said. “Whenever they need my help, they know they have a warrior besides themselves.”
As Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily relays, Nets sharpshooter Joe Harris recently appeared on Barstool’s Pardon My Take podcast to discuss how he ended up in Brooklyn, the Nets’ outlook, and the club’s free agency success. While Harris is looking forward to playing with his new star teammates, he declined to take any credit for their decisions to sign with the team. “I didn’t take any part in the recruitment,” Harris said. “I let the other guys kind of the bulk of that stuff.”
Sources tell Brian Lewis of The New York Post that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is looking to sell off NYCB Live, the home of the Nassau Coliseum. Prokhorov is expected to cede control of the Nets to minority shareholder Joseph Tsai within the next year or two and may also look to sell ownership of Barclays Center at some point.