What Would be Successful Season for Nets' Jordi Fernandez?

The Brooklyn Nets would love to see another promising season from their head coach.

In the midst of a rebuild, the Nets aren’t looking to compete for a spot in the postseason next year. Still, the team understands that to compete in the future, it needs a solid foundation.

While tanking is the obvious move for Brooklyn in 2025-26 as it’s still looking for a franchise player, that doesn’t mean everything should be a disaster. Typically, the most effective tanks for a quick rebuild feature almost nothing being a disaster outside of the scoreboard.

That’s not to say Brooklyn exactly has that luxury, given its situation with a handful of veteran players and a lack of continuity. However, it will have Jordi Fernandez back as head coach in his second season in Brooklyn.

The Nets might not have the superstar they need to compete for championships in the future, but they might already have their head coach for when that time comes. Fernandez has been a solid coach since arriving in Brooklyn before last season and appears to have some of the top qualities a team would want.

Fernandez has control of the locker room and the respect of his players, which are things that he will need to earn again next season. With so many new faces, getting this roster to seamlessly buy into his system will be massive.

While Brooklyn doesn’t want to win much, Fernandez will need to get his team motivated every night. Having some surprisingly close games throughout a tanking season is crucial, and the Nets’ situation will also allow Fernandez to try out some odd lineups if he chooses, which could be impactful in the future.

Simply put, one of the top priorities for Fernandez will be to keep the wheels from fully falling off at any point. Commanding control for 82 games isn’t easy, but it’s why Brooklyn decided he was the man for the job.

Most importantly, the Nets need to see something from Fernandez that shows he can be the long-term solution at head coach. With a revolving door at the position from Kenny Atkinson to Steve Nash to Jacque Vaughn, Brooklyn could use some consistency on the bench, especially as it eventually transitions out of a rebuild.

While it had seemed like Atkinson checked all the necessary boxes while he was in town, the star pressure of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving forced Brooklyn’s hand. Considering how that went, Sean Marks and company surely learned their lesson and won’t allow any star to control the coaching situation in the future.

Fernandez’s future as a head coach seems bright, but he needs to show more progress this season to ensure that Brooklyn has the right guy.