Bucks get Jason Kidd, fire Larry Drew
— -- The Milwaukee Bucks have fired coach Larry Drew after agreeing to send two second-round draft picks to the Brooklyn Nets to secure the coaching rights to Jason Kidd.
The Nets released a statement Monday night saying general manager Billy King "has permitted Jason Kidd to pursue a coaching opportunity with the Milwaukee Bucks." The Nets' search for a head coach will begin immediately. King is scheduled to address the media on Tuesday.
Brooklyn will receive one second-round draft pick each in 2015 and 2019 from Milwaukee. The Bucks had been offering one second-round pick, but the Nets wanted a 2015 first-round pick in exchange, a negotiating chip the Bucks dismissed.
A source told ESPN.com's Andy Katz that the Bucks have talked to Kidd only about being the coach, not any kind of administrative position running basketball operations. The source said the negotiation was supposed to be between the owners, not involving any basketball personnel, before the New York Post leaked the story. The source said the negotiations were being handled by Bucks general manager John Hammond and King.
The source told ESPN.com that the jobs of Hammond and high-ranking Bucks officials David Morway and Dave Babcock are not in jeopardy.
A league source told ESPNNewYork.com that Lionel Hollins has already emerged as "a very serious candidate" to become the Nets' head coach. Hollins will interview with the Nets in the next 24 to 48 hours, sources told ESPN.com's Ramona Shelburne.
"In a lot of ways, he makes the most sense," a league source said of Hollins. "He represents stability, and stability is very important right now. He rules with an iron fist and gets a lot out of his players, so he'd be very high on the list right now, and likely the leader."
Ettore Messina, former coach of CSKA Moscow, also is a leading contender for the Nets' opening, a source told ESPN.com.
Sources said Bucks co-owners Wes Edens and Marc Lasry met with Kidd on Friday in New York City after asking for and receiving permission to talk to Kidd a few days before Thursday's NBA draft.
Lasry had a previous relationship with Kidd, but Edens did not. The source said Kidd told the owners that he would like to have the job. He was intrigued by the challenge of coaching a young, rebuilding team that just added the No. 2 pick in the draft in Duke's Jabari Parker, the source said.
The source said the Bucks' ownership wanted Kidd because he handled pressure and a number of egos on the Nets in his first head-coaching stint and guided them into the playoffs.
The ownership's view of Kidd is that he was a great player, a good young coach and somebody who could be a good disciplinarian, the source said.
ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst and ESPNNewYork.com's Ian O'Connor contributed to this report.
