“Any time you make a hire, I think it’s a risk. You’ve got to believe in your gut and the person.”
Those were the words of Brooklyn Nets general manager Billy King at the introductory press conference for his team’s new head coach Jason Kidd, a man who had just ended his playing career a handful of days earlier.
Those words are also the crux of why the Brooklyn Nets’ long-term outlook has a rocky feel to say the least.
Kidd may turn out to be an inspired hire but most of the new wave of NBA general managers are former analysts who believe in risk management and this hiring would seem to be too risky for the potential reward.
King compared his new hire to the Pacers’ decision to hire Larry Bird in 1997 — a move that proved to be mighty successful as the former Celtics great led Indiana to two conference finals and an NBA Finals in a three-year stint.
But Bird did not trade in his jersey for a suit in just a manner of days. He spent a few years working for the Celtics front office before he made the move.
Bird, who has proven to be a smart cookie as he played a major role in building the current Pacers club once he moved from the coach’s box to the front office, has laid the path for Kidd to be successful in his new gig.
There is no doubt that Kidd has the leadership and respect to motivate the current cast of characters in Brooklyn but he will need to follow Bird’s lead in hiring some great basketball minds to help him install a winning game-plan.
When Bird was piloting the Pacers, his staff included Rick Carlisle and Dick Harter. Carlisle has gone on to win an NBA title in Dallas while Harter had been around the game for decades.
Kidd said on Thursday that he wants to pick up the tempo for a Nets team that is one of the slowest in the league, but a veteran crew of assistants will be invaluable in doing so.
“We’re in discussions about my assistant coaches,” Kidd said. “I know there’s a lot of speculation about Lawrence Frank. He’d be a great candidate. But there’s a lot of people out there who will be getting phone calls from me. I understand I’ll lean on my staff heavily.”
While Kidd may be able to put together a solid staff and provide the proper motivation, there are still a good deal of question marks surrounding the roster that King has assembled down in Brooklyn.
Perhaps more importantly, there is little wiggle room to make changes.
Centre Brook Lopez and shooting guard Joe Johnson are certainly not ideal for the offensive system and this team is tied to both for a while as they have three years remaining on their deals.
The Nets is also saddled with Gerald Wallace for a while. An aging player whose best days are behind him.
Those are just the offensive problems as this team’s collective reputation on their own end of the floor is, shall we say, less than respected.
On the plus side, Kidd has the respect of star guard Deron Williams as the two won an Olympic gold medal together.
“I think he’s going to be a great coach,” Williams told the New York Daily News’ Stephon Bondy. “He’s probably been coaching on the floor for the last five, six years. And I’ve played with him on the Olympic team (in 2008) and saw how smart he is, saw how he was really coaching us out there.”
Of course, Williams also realizes the potential downfall of this hiring.
“Nobody knows if he’s going to be a great coach,” Williams said Wednesday in an interview with the Daily News. “It’s going to take him a couple years to adjust. But at the same time, he could be a great coach off the bat.”
It’s a risky proposition for all involved. How long will the win-now Brooklyn Nets allow Kidd to succeed? Will Williams, who already has a history of getting coaches turfed, be a help or a hindrance in Kidd’s success? And after putting together a dicey roster, will King take the fall after taking his biggest risk?