Marc Stein: Brooklyn Nets to launch "Phil Pursuit" soon

Picking up where Howard Beck left off, Marc Stein writes Wednesday that the Nets will begin their pursuit of Phil Jackson "soon" but if it fails, they are likely to wait till the off-season to replace Avery Johnson on a permanent basis. P.J. Carlesimo is the Nets' interim coach and will be "evaluated" at some point, Billy King said Sunday.

In tweets early Wednesday, Stein reports

Growing sense in NBA coaching circles is that Nets will wait til offseason if forthcoming pitches to No. 1 target Phil Jackson fall short

The thinking: Nets want Phil and will soon launch Phil pursuit. But if he can't be lured to Brooklyn, better to wait until options increase

Question remains: Would Phil be willing to coach a team w/out a single top-20 player? Or could his system get D-Will back where he belongs?

Stein didn't provide any details on when the Nets would move or in what form. On Monday evening, Beck told Sarah Kustok of YES that he expects Mikhail Prokhorov "will try talk to Phil Jackson as soon as they can sometime in the next few days."