The Brooklyn Nets are hiring Jay Hernandez as an assistant coach to Jacque Vaughn’s staff, league sources told HoopsHype. Hernandez spent the last five seasons as an assistant for the Charlotte Hornets. Before that, he spent four seasons with the Orlando Magic, where he briefly worked under Vaughn in a player development role. The hiring is a homecoming of sorts for Hernandez, who grew up on Long Island and played at Hofstra University.
The move comes after the Nets let go of three assistants in Igor Kokoskov, Brian Keefe, and Tiago Splitter earlier this month. Brooklyn now has three vacant positions to fill on Vaughn's staff.
HoopsHype also identified former Nets assistant Will Weaver as a candidate to return to Brooklyn. Weaver served as a top assistant under Kenny Atkinson from 2016-2018 before being named head coach of Brooklyn's G-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. In his lone season with Long Island, he led them to a conference final victory and was awarded NBA G League Coach of the Year. The 37-year-old was an assistant for the Houston Rockets from 2020-2022 before accepting a head coaching job in France last summer.
Weaver isn't the only G League Coach of the Year who could be coming to Brooklyn. Ronnie Burrell, who won the award as the head coach of Long Island last season, is a candidate for an internal hire. Burrell worked as an assistant under Weaver before taking over for him ahead of the 2020-21 season. The Livingston, New Jersey native led Long Island to a franchise-record 16-game winning streak last season.
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