Former Celtics coach Ime Udoka is still up for grabs after receiving a one-year suspension from the team earlier this year. For a few days, Udoka was heavily linked to the Nets amid the departure of their own coach.
But after hours of deliberation, the Nets eventually decided to move on from Udoka, as their guy, citing his situation with Boston, was too much baggage to carry over into this already disgruntled team.
The Nets changed course from their initial plan to hire Udoka due to several factors, multiple sources with direct knowledge of the decision-making told The Athletic. These factors include an investigation and due diligence process by the Nets into the suspended coach taking longer than initially expected, the outcry after word of their plan became known to people outside and inside the organization and the short and long-term question marks around the team’s ability to contend in the Eastern Conference as a result of the indefinite suspension of Irving.
The Nets began direct communication on the potential to hire Udoka 24 to 48 hours before the franchise fired Nash last Tuesday, including receiving permission from the Celtics and engaging in initial discussions, multiple sources with knowledge of the talks told The Athletic.
After being spurned by the Nets, fans and experts started to doubt if Ime would ever get another coaching gig in the NBA again.
Unnamed Team Reportedly Enters The Ime Udoka Hunt
Now, however, there are rumblings of a new team potentially entering the Udoka sweepstakes, though the identity of the team remains unknown.
A team looking to make a coaching change that isn’t already dealing with a toxic environment, however, might not be as fazed by the circumstances that led to Udoka’s suspension in Boston. In fact, one team apparently wasn’t.
An Eastern Conference GM declined to identify the team but said, “I know for a fact a team was gathering background intel on Ime a week after everything happened in Boston,” he said. “Ime was going to be their guy if they fired their current coach.”
Naturally, fans have tried to speculate which team could be considering Udoka. Teams like the 76ers, Knicks, and Hawks have all been suggested, but nothing has been confirmed at this moment in time.
All we can do is wait and see which team decides to make a move first, which might not be long, given how many teams are struggling across the league.
