Ettore Messina ... Well, he didn't say no

Well, he didn't say no.  Ettore Messina was asked Tuesday about speculation --not really reports yet-- that he's a possible candidate for the Nets job.  Tom Orsborn, the San Antonio Express beat writer covering the Spurs, didn't mention Brooklyn, but with Sean Marks and Trajan Langdon vetting the process, he didn't need to.

His answers were interesting (particularly since he's filling in for Gregg Popovich this week).

Messina on "speculation" that he could have a head coaching job soon: "You used the right word, speculation." #Spurs

— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) March 8, 2016

Messina on how he'd handle a job offer: "Look, I'm a soldier...The first person I will talk to is Pop and the second is R.C." #Spurs

— Tom Orsborn (@tom_orsborn) March 8, 2016

NO coaching candidate has the connections to the Nets that Messina has.  Marks worked for the Spurs front office for the last three years ... just like Messina.  Langdon played for Messina at CSKA Moscow for four years, during which CSKA won two Euroleague championships.  Not to mention that Mikhail Prokhorov owned CSKA and Sergey Kushchenko, a member of the Nets board of directors, was CSKA's GM.

On the other hand, Pop and R.C. (Buford) might not take kindly to having their head coach-in-waiting being recruited by their former GM-in-waiting.