That didn't take long.
The day after the Nets' inaugural season in Brooklyn ended with a thud in a 99-93 loss in Game 7 of their first-round series with the Bulls, general manager Billy King announced P.J. Carlesimo wouldn't be retained as the team's head coach.
"It was a difficult decision," King said yesterday, adding the team's first-round exit from the playoffs didn't impact his decision. "We talked about it, but looking at the long-term future with this organization, I felt it was best to look elsewhere and try to find the right fit.
"I thanked him. He did a hell of a job for us in a difficult situation. But by doing it now, there's a lot of jobs open … hopefully, it gets P.J. a chance, and as well gives us a chance with a lot of candidates out there to explore and look at, and that's what we'll be doing in the next couple of weeks."
After taking over for Avery Johnson in late December, Carlesimo led the Nets to a 35-19 record over the final four months of the season. But despite Carlesimo getting votes of support from Williams and Brook Lopez following the team's season-ending loss Saturday night, the decision not to bring back Carlesimo didn't come as a great surprise. It had been expected the Nets were going to make a long-term commitment to a coach when their season came to an end.
But with that decision officially made, the next step is to determine who will be the coach to take over this roster, one that went 49-33 this season and finished fourth in the East before bowing out to the Bulls.
King said getting a coach with experience leading an NBA team wasn't a requirement for him, citing the likes of Tom Thibodeau in Chicago, Erik Spoelstra in Miami and Mark Jackson in Golden State as examples of first-time head coaches who had success.
His players, however, seemed to have other ideas, as both Deron Williams and Reggie Evans said the Nets need a proven head coach to take over a veteran-laden roster.
"I think somebody that's creative on offense and has a good system on defense," Williams said. "I haven't really thought much about it. I think we just need somebody that's going to lead us, [and] somebody everybody respects, for sure.
"I think people definitely respected Avery and P.J., as well. I'm just saying to continue that. We need that, as opposed to hiring a guy who hasn't been around. That's kind of hard."
King refused to rule out any candidate, other than his former coach at Duke, Mike Krzyzewski. "I don't want the alumni base mad at me," King joked.
But one name he didn't rule out was Phil Jackson, who has been rumored to be interested in getting involved with basketball again after taking the last two seasons off after leaving the Lakers following the 2011 season. Jackson, however, is thought to be more interested in having a front-office position with a team than going through the day-to-day grind of coaching.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll call him," King said. "I'll reach out to a lot of people and talk. But, you know, he's one of the best coaches sitting on the sidelines, so you've got to reach out."
Several other names are sure to be bandied about in the coming days, including both Jeff and Stan Van Gundy, Larry Brown and potentially Doc Rivers — if he decides it's time to part ways with the Celtics — among established head coaches, as well as Brian Shaw among other current assistants. Pacers president Donnie Walsh told The Post's Mark Hale the Nets haven't asked for permission to speak with Shaw, but said it is common practice to wait until a team is eliminated to speak with a coaching candidtate.
The one thing King said he isn't going to do, however, is rush through the process.
"We're going to take our time," King said. "If it takes a month, it'll take a month."
tbontemps@nypost.com
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