Nets Hire Avery Johnson

Filed under: Mavericks, Nets, NBA Rumors, NBA Coaches

Avery Johnson is on his way to becoming the New Jersey Nets coach, confirming to the Associated Press that he has agreed to the job and will likely be formally announced Thursday.



A source close to the ESPN analyst confirmed to FanHouse Wednesday that the former Dallas coach and the Nets entered contract negotiations with his lawyers, Jeremiah Haylett (Dutt Sports General Counsel) and Curry Cooksey (Orgain, Bell and Tucker, LLP). After apparently agreeing to a deal, Johnson will return to the bench for the first time since being fired from the Mavericks' head post in 2008.



Yahoo! reporter Marc Spears reported that Johnson would be given a three-year deal, and sources close to Johnson told FanHouse that his target salary entering negotiations with Thorn -- and by extension new Nets billionaire owner Mikhail Prokhorov -- was between $4 million to $4.5 million per year.



Johnson was the only candidate who was known to be interviewed, although team president Rod Thorn had hoped to convince Jeff Van Gundy to return to coaching and he had conversations with Boston lead assistant Tom Thibodeau as well before he took the job in Chicago. As first reported by FanHouse, Nets president Rod Thorn reached out to Johnson before any other candidates.

 

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Full story at http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/06/09/nets-avery-johnson-enter-negotiations/