The Brooklyn Nets are giving Jordi Fernández real runway, but the first two seasons of his tenure have been rough enough to drag him into the bottom tier of NBA head coaches.
In two years in Brooklyn, Fernández has gone 46-118 while navigating constant turnover and a roster that never really stopped being rebuilt. Last season was especially bleak, with the Nets winning only 20 games and finishing bottom-three in the Eastern Conference.
Even with that record, Brooklyn doubled down on him this offseason. The front office backed Fernández with a multi-year extension, a move that shows patience - and also puts pressure on him to turn that patience into results.
That context is part of why CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn placed Fernández at No. 9 in his Thursday ranking of NBA bench bosses, putting him in the bottom 10.
Still, the numbers only tell part of the story. Fernández has earned a strong reputation inside the organization, and his ability to connect with players has been a real bright spot.
Projected starting center Day'Ron Sharpe put it plainly at training camp: "He's the leader of our family," Sharpe said.
Sharpe also said Fernández blends fun and teaching well, and called him "always honest" with the players.
Those are the kinds of things a young team wants to hear from its coach, especially with Brooklyn trying to build something more stable around a developing core.
The Nets believe they’re set up to improve in the years ahead thanks to smart trades and young talent, but the challenge now is figuring out how Fernández fits the new pieces together with the players already in place.
Julius Randle gave the same kind of confident tone in mid-September when he spoke to media at his Back to School Cilnic.
“Whatever your expectations are, whatever expectations are put upon us, we’re going to exceed them," Randle told media. "We’re going to do things at a very high level.”
Since joining Brooklyn, Randle has been openly upbeat about his new environment, praising the young players on the roster and talking about "shocking" the NBA world.
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Nets Make First Camp Cut As Final Roster Picture Tightens
After finishing the preseason, the Nets moved on from Ben Humrichous by requesting waivers on the forward, the first clear trim as their camp roster starts to settle into regular-season shape. Humrichous had been signed before training camp and got into two preseason games, but he was unable to do enough to earn one of the limited spots available as the competition tightened.
Brooklyn now sits at 15 standard contracts and three Two-Way deals, leaving the roster compliant heading into the season. With the regular roster picture largely in place, the focus shifts from filling camp bodies to the more familiar work of building roles, minutes and rotation certainty once the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Rebuild Could Put One Veteran's Future In Immediate Doubt
Andre Drummonds one-year deal with the Knicks already has drawn a strong endorsement from Karl-Anthony Towns, who called the veteran center a valuable addition as New York looks to shore up its frontcourt depth. The move comes as the Knicks continue sorting through bigger roster questions, including stalled extension talks with Miles McBride and a closer look at how forward Mohamed Diawara is developing.
For Brooklyn, the broader picture matters because the Nets are still trying to measure their own progress while the East keeps shifting around them. Their offseason and in-season moves could be shaped by the same kind of deadline pressure facing New York, and questions remain about how the Nets will navigate possible trade interest in their own veterans as the February deadline approaches. [Read more 🡒]
Brooklyns Rebuild Suddenly Has One Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Brooklyns offense has looked sturdier through Summer League and the preseason, with Julius Randles arrival giving the group a more proven source of scoring and several young players helping the ball move better. For a team trying to climb out of the early stages of a rebuild, that kind of offensive growth matters, because it suggests the Nets may at least have a clearer identity on one end of the floor as they sort through the rest of the roster.
The problem is that the other end has not come nearly as far, and the gap is getting harder to ignore. Coaches and players have talked openly about the need to defend better, but the concerns go deeper than effort or execution, especially in the paint after the Nic Claxton trade. Brooklyn is still searching for a way to turn that acknowledged weakness into something more workable before the season gets rolling. [Read more 🡒]