The Brooklyn Nets are prepared to hire Sacramento Kings assistant and Canada’s men’s national team coach Jordi Fernandez as the franchise’s next head coach, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday.
According to Wojnarowski, Fernandez separated himself from other candidates during the Nets’ month-long search for a new bench boss.
Fernandez has been with the Kings since August 2022 and had previous stints with the Denver Nuggets and Cleveland Cavaliers. He was on the Cavaliers staff during the 2016 championship season.
Canada Basketball remains hopeful Fernandez will stay onboard through the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris, according to Sportsnet’s Michael Grange.
Fernandez took over coaching duties for the men’s national team last June, replacing former Toronto Raptors and current Philadelphia 76ers head coach Nick Nurse.
Should the Nets hire Fernandez and he continues on with Canada Basketball, arrangements will need to be made for him to miss the NBA Summer League, which takes place July 12-22 in Las Vegas.
The men’s national team is scheduled to open camp in late June in Toronto, head to Las Vegas on July 8 and then leave for Europe after playing the United States on July 10. The Summer Olympics basketball schedule runs July 27 to Aug. 10.
The Kings’ playoff run could add further complications to the timeline. Sacramento is ninth in the Western Conference and has clinched a play-in berth.