Avery Johnson isn’t taking long to get all his pieces in place.
On the day Johnson was introduced as the new coach of the Nets, sources have told ESPN.com the team is interested in hiring former Raptors coach Sam Mitchell to be an assistant coach.
The sources said Johnson wants a former head coach to serve on the bench with him this season. The report says he’ll be interviewed this week.
“Being an assistant would be fine,” Mitchell, the 2006-07 NBA Coach of the Year, told the Toronto Sun on June 10. “But I want to make sure it’s in a good place — a team that not only has a chance to win, but to be with someone who brings something different to me, where I can actually learn something. I’m still a young coach. I still have a lot of things to learn.”
Mitchell coached Chris Bosh, likely to be one of the prized free agents on the market come July 1.
Two of Johnson’s former assistants in Dallas — Joe Prunty and Popeye Jones — have been mentioned as likely candidates for his new staff with the Nets.