Nets finalize Jordi Fernandez’s first coaching staff in Brooklyn

NEW YORK — The Nets officially announced all six members of Jordi Fernandez’s first coaching staff in Brooklyn on Friday, although there were not any surprises considering most of the names associated with it have already been reported in recent weeks.

Steve Hetzel, Juwan Howard, Deividas Dulkys, Connor Griffin and Travis Bader will serve as assistant coaches under Fernandez, while Jay Hernandez, Adam Caporn, Ryan Forehan-Kelly and Corey Vinson will round out the rest of the bench.

While the specific focuses of each staff member were not revealed, it has been reported that Hetzel, who spent the past three seasons as an assistant on the Portland Trail Blazers’ staff, will serve as Fernandez’s lead assistant.

Hetzel also served as an assistant for the Orlando Magic and the Charlotte Hornets. Fernandez served as Hetzel’s lead assistant when he was head coach of the Canton Charge, and both led the Cleveland Cavaliers’ G League affiliate to a 28-22 record while allowing the fewest points per game (101.5) of any team in the league.

Howard, who was reportedly hired by Fernandez last week, played 19 seasons in the NBA and won two championships as a player with the Miami Heat. He spent six seasons as an assistant in Miami under Erik Spoelstra before becoming the head coach at his alma mater, Michigan, where he led the Wolverines for five seasons before being dismissed in March.

Hetzel, Dulkys and Griffin all have strong backgrounds in player development, which appears to be a major area of emphasis for the Nets entering next season. Bader, who is entering his fifth season in Brooklyn and first as an assistant coach, spent the last two seasons as the team’s head video coordinator.

Along with Bader, Hernandez, Caporn, Forehan-Kelly and Vinson were retained from Jacque Vaughn’s coaching staff and were all promoted to assistants under Fernandez, the fourth full-time head coach hired by general manager Sean Marks following Vaughn, Kenny Atkinson and Steve Nash.

In his first community appearance since being named Nets head coach, Fernández will lead a Brooklyn Basketball clinic for middle school students on Monday, where he will interact with students and coach them through a variety of drills.

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