There have been calls. Lots and lots of calls.
But primarily, they have been incoming.
So yes, Nets team president Rod Thorn has had ample contact with coaching candidates and their representatives — including those for Avery Johnson — but he has yet to conduct a formal interview.
“Let me put it this way: People have called me to ask if I’m interested in them or their clients,” said Thorn, who declined to reveal his candidates. “Some of them I will [be interested in], some I won’t.
“But I have conducted no interviews, we have not set up any and I probably won’t until after the lottery,” he said.
The lottery is Tuesday in Secaucus, where new owner Mikhail Prokhorov will be on hand. After that, there is the pre-draft camp in Chicago. Expect Thorn to start his interviews full bore after that.
Thorn reiterated he has a preferred short list — “about five or six candidates” — with none of them “coming out of left field.” The leading names likely include Johnson, Jeff Van Gundy, though the feeling is he does not want to coach at this time, and Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau, whose stock has skyrocketed in the Celts-Cavaliers series.
Thorn will be thorough. Other assistants who probably will have contact include Houston’s Elston Turner, Dallas’ Dwane Casey and possibly a very familiar name, Orlando’s Patrick Ewing. Ex-coach Doug Collins also could surface. The rumor swirling through the NBA is John Calipari wants back in and will bring his LeBron James ties. Don’t look for him in New Jersey.
Johnson has interviewed with the Hornets and Sixers and is thought to favor the New Orleans job — at least now. Prokhorov’s wealth plus the Nets’ showing in the lottery could change that.
“At this time, we have no comment,” attorney Jeremiah Haylett, one of Johnson’s representatives, said yesterday regarding contact with the Nets.
A spokesperson for Devin Harris said the Nets guard is not commenting on team matters at this time after doing so all season. Harris played for — and clashed with — Johnson in Dallas. But Harris, in April, stressed his admiration for Johnson and claimed he would be a terrific coach for the Nets.
“He knows how to win, simple as that. He’s a great coach, a great motivator,” Harris said. “He rode me hard, but he developed me. One of the things we didn’t always agree on was my role. I thought I should have a bigger role, and he wanted to keep me under wraps until I was ready.”