The Brooklyn Nets are giving “strong consideration” to former Toronto Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo to fill their now vacant GM position, ESPN’s Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo are reporting.
The Nets are in the market for a new GM and coach after firing Lionel Hollins and reassigning Billy King.
According to the ESPN report, Colangelo has emerged as a “serious candidate” to take over as Brooklyn’s new GM, despite reports linking the Nets to Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who previously coached the Nets from 1996-1999, and would, allegedly, return to the organization in a dual coach-executive role.
When the Nets do hire their next GM, the ESPN report says, they will then move on to selecting their next head coach.
Colangelo, 50, is a two-time NBA Executive of the Year with the Raptors (2007) and Phoenix Suns (2005). He was last a GM while with Toronto, where he also held the title of President of Basketball Operations.
In May 2013, Colangelo was stripped of his Raptors GM duties by Maple Leafs Sports & Enterntainment, and then stepped down from the president’s role in June of the same year.
Some of Colangelo’s highlights as the Suns’ GM include signing Steve Nash in the summer of 2004 and trading Joe Johnson for two future first-rounders and Boris Diaw in 2005.
A few of his most notable moves while with the Raptors include taking Andrea Bargnani first overall in the 2006 draft, trading Charlie Villanueva for T.J. Ford, signing international stars Jorge Garbajosa and Anthony Parker, and trading for Jermaine O’Neal.