Nets’ Jordi Fernandez makes bold promise after becoming new head coach

Marks survived the disappointing season and was trusted to lead an extensive coaching search. Fernandez marks the fourth head-coaching hire of the GM’s eight-year tenure, joining Kenny Atkinson, Steve Nash and Jacque Vaughn.

One season removed from trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets are at a crossroads: they can trade their veterans and embrace a rebuild or cash in their chips for a star on another accelerated timeline. Marks said Fernandez, who has served as an assistant for the Detroit Pistons, Denver Nuggets, and Sacramento Kings, as well as head coach of the Canadian national team, has proven he can be effective coaching on either path.

“I think something that separates Jordi from a lot of the candidates is that we found that he could look at a developmental roster,” Marks said. “He could do various different pathways. He’s coached stars before, he’s been the head of director of development before. He’s worn many hats and I think there’s no roster that he’s not going to be able to get the respect of those guys.”

“You see how he relates to players… He’s very poised. He comes across with an incredible amount of care and graciousness. And then at the same time, he’s able to hold guys accountable, have honest hard conversations with guys,” Marks continued. “And we know that because of the due diligence which was done on him talking to whether it was ex-players, teammates, coaches, you name it from all over the place. So, you know, he kept checking the box on and on and on.”

Is Brooklyn’s youth movement real?

Mikal Bridges (27), Nic Claxton (25), Cam Thomas (22) and Cam Johnson (28) headline Brooklyn’s roster. Rookie first-round pick Noah Clowney (19), the NBA’s fourth-youngest player, made a strong pitch to enter that conversation late in the season. Fernandez pointed to that youth when asked what attracted him to the Nets job.

“The youth excites me,” he said. “When you have a young roster, and a talented one, that means that you’re going to have those guys for a long time. So you can develop them… So that’s extremely exciting, the flexibility that we’ll have, the resources that we have.”

“We have a first class-owner, we have a first-class management group, front office. So if you put all that together, I think that that’s a perfect recipe for success,” Fernandez continued. “Like everybody says, we want to be top-10 offensively, top-10 defensively, and with the roster we have, we’ll be able to do that.”

While Fernandez focused on youth in his messaging, any chance the Nets have of competing in the coming seasons hinges on their ability to attract a star. After trading Durant, Irving and James Harden, Brooklyn is armed with seven tradable first-round picks. That includes three distant unprotected firsts from the Phoenix Suns (2027, 2029) and Dallas Mavericks (2029), which should be highly coveted.

Marks spent a solid amount of his time Wednesday speaking about the Nets developing their own players, but as he has at several points this season, he hinted at a star trade on the horizon.

“From 2016 to 2019, this roster looked a whole lot different in those three years,” he said, alluding to Brooklyn’s build-up to signing Durant and Irving. “So, the opportunity to do that in Brooklyn is certainly a viable one… You’re able to build quicker than in some other markets. It’s a big market, it attracts stars per se if you want to do that, but let’s not lose sight of developing our own and having success and continuing to draft well.”