Brooklyn fires Avery Johnson

The Brooklyn Nets have fired coach Avery Johnson, league source tells Yahoo! Sports.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) December 27, 2012

The Deron Williams body count now stands at 2.

The Nets started out pretty well and once boasted a 10 win in 12 games stretch.  But a 3-10 December means Avery Johnson isn’t going to make it to see 2013.  This move is certainly surprising considering the timing of it, but recent grumblings by Deron Williams made it clear that Johnson’s days were numbered.

Chuck and I actually had a private conversation over chat a week ago that went like this:

10:57 AM Chuck: what’s all this talk about Deron Williams being unhappy in Brooklyn?

10:59 AM me: I don’t know

  I just read something about him being frustrated with the offense

11:00 AM Jesus.. I just looked up their salaries…

11:01 AM they’re committed to being over the tax threshold for 3 years

  if he’s pissed… he’d better get over it

 Chuck: so it better work… cuz they can’t change it

 me: that team’s not changing

 Chuck: he’s laying the ground work for Avery’s firing

11:02 AM me: that makes sense

  it’s the only thing that can change

Yes, the Nets and Mikhail Prokhorov are not messing around.  A .500 record, despite the fact that injuries helped play a part in that record, isn’t good enough after 28 games.  The Nets have a lot of money committed to this team with very little flexibility for any changes over the next few years.  DWill didn’t like the offense the team was running, but the team running it is going nowhere.

With the pressure in the battle for New York now squarely on the Brooklyn n00bs after the Knicks’ hot start, the team clearly felt a message needed to be sent.

Now, the question is… what kind of coach will take over?  Will he be a puppet that will capitulate to the players’ whims, or will there be a clear authoritarian who will take a stand and demand certain standards from his players?

With Williams’ history, the team needs to tread carefully into its search.