The struggling Brooklyn Nets, who recently fired former head coach Lionel Hollins, seem to have their sights set on Tom Thibodeau who was sacked by the Chicago Bulls before the 2015–16 National Basketball Association (NBA) season opened.
Brooklyn is currently under interim head coach Tony Brown, who is a veteran assistant coach in the NBA.
Along with the firing of Hollins, the man who hired him, former Nets general manager Billy King, was also relieved of his duties.
In a report by ESPN, the Nets are looking to pursue Thibodeau once they find a replacement for King.
The report added that Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is searching for names that are already established in the league and has experience.
Thibodeau only became a head coach once and that was with the Chicago Bulls, but has done a great job in five seasons with the organization.
In his first season with the Bulls (2010–11 season), they reached the Eastern Conference Finals but lost to the Miami Heat.
The next four seasons saw Chicago reach the first round of the playoffs twice (2011–12 and 2013–14 seasons) and the conference semi-finals also for two times (2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons).
Unfortunately, the success Thibodeau brought to the Bulls was not enough and after falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round last season, they decided to part ways with him.
The decision was surprising since Thibodeau had a splendid head coaching stint in Chicago, also having great connection with the players.
If Thibodeau joins the Nets, the team's defense will likely improve since that is what he is known for, although that is not the only focus of his coaching.
Currently, the Nets are second to the last in the Eastern Conference standings with an 11–30 record and are on a two-game losing slump.
This season is turning out to be the Nets' worst after the franchise transferred to Brooklyn from New Jersey in 2012.
