The Brooklyn Nets pivoted amid reports that they intended to hire suspended Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, instead lifting the interim tag from Jacque Vaughn’s title as their replacement for Steve Nash.
Vaughn’s deal runs through the 2023-24 season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowksi.
Brooklyn is now tasking Vaughn with one of the league’s most difficult jobs. Ben Simmons, Durant and Irving, assuming he eventually rejoins the Nets, are three of the most mercurial maximum-salaried players in the NBA.
The misfit roster around them has yielded a bottom-10 defense and a middling offense through the season’s first 11 games, despite the presence of Durant, one of the great scorers of his generation.
The Nets have fallen out of favor as a serious playoff threat, and Vaughn’s primary job may be more focused on selling Durant and Irving on a future in a Brooklyn, rather than holding out hope for this season.