Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Erik Slater: Asked Jordi Fernandez why he moved Nolan Traore into the starting lineup: “Our shot selection was not great, and we had a lot of turnovers. I felt like Nolan would help settle the group. I see Egor as more of an off-ball gravity guy who can also handle. I think his superpower is to shoot the ball, to come off screens, to make decisions... The true point guards, to me, are Nolan and Mikel. And right now, if they play first and second unit, I think that gives us [better] shot quality and fewer turnovers. So that was the intention of that change, and I think it went well."
“[Jordi Fernández] obviously acknowledged, ‘This wasn’t just on you. It’s a team effort.’ But I set standards for myself when it comes to that stuff,” the 20-year-old Brown said. “As a guard, time management, blowing coverages on the defensive end, that I just can’t have. I’m gonna go watch that film with the coaches, go watch film with Jordi, break it down, learn from it and be better.”
Rookie Mikel Brown Jr.’s preseason debut left the Nets impressed. But his minutes restriction is likely to leave him coming off the bench. For now. Brown had 15 points, three assists and two steals in Miami, with Michael Porter Jr. dubbing him a “stud.” But the lottery pick was limited to 18 minutes after missing the first three preseason games with a rolled left ankle. Brown will still be on a minutes restriction for Wednesday’s season opener against visiting Charlotte. “Our No. 1 priority is his health and build him the right way,” said coach Jordi Fernández. “So obviously I lean on medical and performance to guide us on how to do it. And then all the combinations and so forth obviously is up to me.”
![“I think that this could be [Julius'] best playmaking …](https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/gcdn/content-pipeline-sports-images/sports2/nba/players/786412.png?format=png8&auto=webp&quality=85,75&width=140)
“I think that this could be [Julius'] best playmaking year,” Fernandez said early in training camp. “He's proven that he's a very efficient player at very different levels. Seasons with the Knicks when he shot eight-plus threes, seasons where he's isolated more, been in the pick-and-roll more, [he's shown] his ability to playmake. And you put all those things together, for me as a coach, being able to use somebody in many different ways, it makes my life easier. I think that he will make his teammates better.”
Advertisement
Ask people around the NBA about Gansey—the man who just pulled off what might be the most audacious offseason the league has ever seen from a first-time lead executive—and the initial responses make it seem like everyone is reading off a script. “I love Mike Gansey,” said Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernández, a friend of Gansey’s from their time together in Cleveland. Six other NBA insiders I spoke with for this story, a mix of executives, coaches, and scouts, none of whom had ever worked with Gansey, used that exact same phrase. So did multiple former colleagues.
Keon Ellis is one week into his first Nets training camp, and Jordi Fernández is already seeing what he expected. "He's got the best hands in the NBA, and that's hard to teach," Jordi Fernández said at Friday's practice. "At the same time, you want to be disciplined and follow the schemes, whatever the game plan is. I trust him. I know he's very diligent with his work and everything, and I know he can perform at a high level. He's going to help us a lot at the defensive end."
Keon Ellis came to play for the Nets for one major reason: Jordi Fernández. “In this game — and it is a business — having someone like Jordi being the head coach, someone you’re familiar with, [is big]. You know all the schemes, you know what he’s about, you know what they want to run,” Ellis said Friday after practice. “It’s a safe space right there. He’s familiar with my game, I’m familiar with how he rocks. That was the No. 1 thing.” “He knows how I play, and I know how he wants his team to play. I know I can have a big impact in that way.”
Chaney Johnson: "Coach Jordi (Fernandez), he was literally one of the most positive coaches in the locker room, win or loss. So you can tell how much he cares about winning, but he cares about his players just as much. So, I mean, he is a winner and I feel like of course it just hasn't went his way, but like he hasn't taken his foot off the gas. So, they they keep your head up, man, like but just keep believing. Just keep believing, that's all I can say, just keep believing."
Advertisement
Sean Marks, in answer to an ND question about the Knicks back on the day his team introduced its three draft picks, dismissed the possibility of having another team’s success change his thinking. (As more than one NBA watcher has noted, the team governor and GM have been like “peas in a pod” when it comes to strategy.) “No, not at all. I mean, we’re not, we’re not, we’re not going to be motivated or less motivated by what somebody else is doing,” Marks said. “I think we all we control is our path. I think we set out on this a couple of years ago, and I think I’m very happy with what the group has done, what Jordi (Fernandez), the coaching staff, have done to develop these young men, and it’s gonna be really exciting to see what they look like, and you know, whether it’s a year or two years from here, and who really seizes this opportunity?”
In addition to moving up five spots into the late first round of the draft, another factor in the decision to trade Nic Claxton was the opportunity to free up more playing time for center Day’Ron Sharpe, sources told HoopsHype. Sharpe, the longest-tenured Net going into his sixth season at just 24 years old, impressed Nets brass last season and was lauded by coach Jordi Fernandez for his rebounding prowess. Sharpe is currently penciled in as Brooklyn’s starting center.
With Williams expected to return healthy next season, Mitchell, Cason Wallace, Jared McCain, and Alex Caruso in the fold, teams across the league are monitoring fellow starter Lu Dort’s availability. Dort has a team option for $17.22 million for the upcoming season that several front executives who spoke with HoopsHype are projecting the Thunder to exercise, then consider flipping Dort on the trade market. Should such a scenario happen, Dort has been linked with the Lakers and several other teams. It’s worth noting that Brooklyn Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez coached Dort with the Canadian National Team.
Jordi Fernández: "Yeah, it's been growth, and I've had to learn how to be in this position. Obviously, when you get the job, you always believe that you're ready for it, and even though you've coached and you've been a head coach before, probably basketball is the easiest part of it. But then you have the head coaching duties and what it means, and the amount of people that you're responsible for, and the amount of people that you've got to touch every day. I think that's been a great journey so far. I've learned, I've grown, and the best thing is being around good people. This organization is built and is still building the right things for the right things, and we believe that we'll keep taking those positive steps."