Brooklyn Nets coach P.J. Carlesimo won't return as the team's head coach, general manager Billy King told the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy on Sunday.
With the search for Carlesimo's replacement already underway, former New York Knicks coach and current ESPN commentator Jeff Van Gundy is a top target, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
The move comes soon after the Nets were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. Though Brooklyn made the playoffs as a No. 4 seed, Carlesimo's 35-19 record wasn't enough to earn him the job permanently. Carlesimo took over for head coach Avery Johnson, who was fired after Brooklyn began the season 14-14.
Nets Daily reported that while some of the team's key players such as Deron Williams and Joe Johnson supported their head coach, many role players didn't.
In the end, the decision by King was about what Carlesimo got out of a roster considered more talented than the injury-plagued Bulls squad that Brooklyn lost to in the first round. ESPN reported shortly after the Nets' loss that Carlesimo, who as a head coach has never won a playoff series, had his future with the team riding on how far he took them in the playoffs.
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