Brooklyn Nets: A new head coach is unlikely to change anything for the Nets

Will a new head coach change anything for the struggling Brooklyn Nets? 

Through the first couple of weeks of the season, the Brooklyn Nets have been extremely disappointing. Even if you weren’t as high as others on the Nets, I’m not sure many envisioned this team to be 2-6 through the first eight games of the season. Nevertheless, that’s exactly where the Nets stand heading into the start of November.

And their rough start to the season has prompted the front office to make a move in an attempt to try and salvage the season. It may be a bit premature to be speaking on those terms, but that’s exactly what’s at stake for a team as talented as the Nets.

That’s exactly what led the Nets to fire – or, as they say, “mutually part ways” – head coach Steve Nash. Shortly after that initial report, news broke that the team is expected to reach an agreement with Ime Udoka to be the team’s next head coach.

Over the next few days, the big question that will flood the Nets is whether or not hiring a new head coach will make the difference in the locker room that the team needs to turn their season around.

The Brooklyn Nets have structural problems that extend beyond coaching

There are many reasons why I believe the Nets have problems that extend well beyond coaching. And the offseason is almost the perfect example of that.

There’s a strong chance that the Nets’ issues this season stem from the offseason, in which we saw both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant map out their way out of Brooklyn. The only reason why they’re still in Brooklyn is that their respective plans blew up in their faces.

But if both Kyrie and Durant had their way, would they still be Nets? That’s hard to say, but after what transpired during the offseason, I have a hard time believing that.

Another issue for the team that could be viewed as a structural issue is the fact that I’m not sure what this team does well. They are an average offensive team and bottom three in the league on the defensive end of the floor.

For a team as talented as the Nets are, there’s no excuse for being terrible or bad on both ends of the floor. I could be wrong, but I simply don’t believe that Udoka – or whoever is going to be the team’s next head coach – is not going to come in and automatically make everything magically great again.

For some reason, it’s never worked for the Nets. Ever since they landed both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the narrative around this team has been: “the team is talented enough.” But so often, the distractions have almost always outweighed the talent.

Maybe that’s just what this team is, a distracted franchise with some talent. The Nets have structural problems that a new head coach simply won’t fix.