Nets moving toward hiring Ime Udoka as head coach

The Brooklyn Nets are moving forward with the hiring of suspended Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka, according to sources.

Sources said a deal is expected to be finalized by the week's end, bringing back Udoka to try to save the franchise.

The Nets have lost five of seven games to start the season and will keep an acting head coach until Udoka can take over.

Sources say that the Celtics never planned to stand in the way of Udoka accepting another coaching job even though Boston suspended him for an improper relationship with a subordinate.

After one season as an assistant under Nash, Udoka became the Celtics' coach and led them to the NBA finals. Sean Marks and Udoka worked together with the San Antonio Spurs.

Sources said that the Nets have been vetting the circumstances around Udoka's suspension and believe that he can tighten up the league's 29th ranked defensive team and command leadership. Udoka spent a year with Ben Simmons, a player the Nets are desperately trying to get on track with.

The severity of Udoka's one-year suspension was due to the fact that he used crude language in his dialogue with a female colleague prior to his relationship with the woman, according to sources.

Sources said that the investigative findings which described Udoka's part that was deemed especially concerning coming from a workplace superior contributed to what was an unlikely path to his reinstatement as Celtics coach in 2023.

The power dynamic associated with a superior's improper relationship with a staff member was the primary finding and policy violation cited in the law firm's report.