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The Brooklyn Nets have fired coach Lionel Hollins and reassigned general manager Billy King in the midst of a 10-27 start that puts them in the bottom three teams in the league.
The Nets announced that assistant Tony Brown will step in as the interim head coach, while the GM position will remain vacant for now.
"It's clear from our current state of affairs that we need new leadership," Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov said in a statement released by the team. "With the right basketball management and coach in place, we are going to create a winning culture and identity and give Brooklyn a team it can be proud of and enjoy watching.
That winning culture won't be built overnight. At least that's what the Boston Celtics are hoping, considering they own an unprotected first-round pick from the Nets in this year's draft. The concern for Celtics fans is that seeing their coach get fired may be the spark the Nets need to turn things around.
Clearly there isn't enough talent on this Nets team to suddenly turn them into a contender, so rest assured that the Celtics will still be getting a lottery pick from them. It just may not be quite as high as we hoped for if new leadership pushes this team to an extra few wins.
There is also the possibility that when a new GM is eventually put in place they will be under a lot of pressure to produce results quickly. This could increase the chances of mid-season trades to improve the roster, with a focus on finding a point guard to replace the injured Jarrett Jack.
At this point we don't even know if the Nets will have a new GM in place before the trade deadline, which could leave Brooklyn stuck with their current roster. Even if they do, perhaps they will be more likely to sell off veterans like Brook Lopez or Thaddeus Young in order to help clean the slate for the new GM.
Will the Nets respond to a new coach or is this a sign that Brooklyn is waiving the white flag on this season and looking to build for the future? It's too soon to tell, but something is certainly brewing in Brooklyn that bares watching for Celtics fans looking to capitalize on those future draft picks.