The Nets can officially strike Doc Rivers from their list of potential head-coaching candidates.
Celtics general manager Danny Ainge told the Boston Globe yesterday that Rivers will return to the Celtics for his 10th season patrolling the sidelines in Boston.
“Yeah [he’ll be back], Doc and I are talking about our team next year,” Ainge said. “[No suspense] from my perspective. We’ve got a great coach.’’
“We’ve got a coach everybody would love to have and he’s got three years left on his contract and I think Doc likes Boston, too. Coaches get tired, though. It’s a hard job.
“You guys are the only one [who made it an issue].”
Although it was always a remote possibility, given that Rivers was still under contract and the Nets reside in the same division, it was expected if Rivers had chosen to leave Boston, as he had hinted was a possibility when the season ended, the Nets would try to lure him to Brooklyn.
With Rivers off the table, the Nets are now expected to wait for Pacers associate head coach Brian Shaw and Memphis head coach Lionel Hollins to finish their respective playoff runs. to interview both of them. NBA teams generally wait until postseason runs are complete before interviewing coaches, and Pacers team president Donnie Walsh has already said that Shaw will be granted permission to interview with teams once Indiana is out of the playoffs.
Hollins, on the other hand, is in the final year of his contract and could potentially test the open market once the season is over.