MIAMI – About a month after their season came to an end, some clarity could soon be coming to the Nets’ coaching search.
Two potential candidates expected to be at or near the top of the team’s desired list of replacements for P.J. Carlesimo – Lionel Hollins and Brian Shaw – both could be available to be interviewed in the coming days.
Hollins, who led the Memphis Grizzlies to the best season in the franchise’s history, setting a team record with 56 wins as well as advancing to the Western Conference Finals for the first time, has been given permission to speak Sunday to other teams after his contract talks with Memphis have broken down, according to multiple reports.
Given his accomplishments in Memphis, where the Grizzlies have seen their winning percentage increase in each of his four full seasons as head coach, Hollins is expected to draw interest among the several teams still looking for head coaches for next season, including both the Nets and Clippers.
Shaw, Indiana’s associate head coach, could become available to be interviewed as soon as Tuesday, depending on what happens in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Heat and Pacers Monday night. Team president Donnie Walsh has said repeatedly that Shaw, widely considered among the league’s top assistant coaches, will be made available to teams to interview for vacant positions once the Pacers are out of the playoffs.
A win against the Heat tonight, however, could push Shaw’s availability back as far as a couple of weeks, depending on how long the Finals between the Spurs and Pacers would last.
Shaw, who previously worked for several years as an assistant under Phil Jackson with the Lakers after winning multiple championships as a player alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, is also expected to draw interest from the Nets and Clippers, along with possibly the Pistons, given that owner Tom Gores has hired Jackson as a consultant to aid in their search.
Nets general manager Billy King has repeatedly said that he isn’t going to rush into making a hire. Unlike last summer, when the Nets went into the offseason with virtually no players under contract, they currently have 11 of their 15 roster spots filled for next season, along with whoever they wind up taking with their first round pick in the draft later this month and the expected signing of 2011 second round pick Bojan Bogdanovic, as well.
tbontemps@nypost.com