The Nets have said they'll give Dee Brown a shot at returning to coach the Springfield Armor next season...and judging by his comments, the former Celtic hopes he'll still be on board once the Nets take over the D-League team on May 1.  The Nets will control basketball operations in Springfield.

He admits there are no guarantees till the Nets take over, but Brown is enthusiastic about the new arrangement.

"We’ll be Nets employees if everything goes the way it’s supposed to go,” Brown said. “We won’t even be an extension of the coaching staff, we’ll be the seventh or eighth or ninth assistant to Avery (Johnson, coach of the Nets). We’ll run Nets stuff and work with those guys in the summer time.”

Brown said he scouted college seniors at the Portsmouth Invitational last week but didn't say if he was part of the Nets scouting contingent.

• Armor coach Dee Brown already at work on third year in Springfield - Jeff Thomas - Springfield Republican