Former Orlando Magic coach Brian Hill, who was fired last month with another year and $3 million left on his contract, is leaning toward a quick return to the NBA this season as an assistant with the New Jersey Nets.

Hill would be rejoining the team and the coach that he left in 2005 when he returned to become the Magic head coach for the second time.

Nets Coach Lawrence Frank was hired by Hill as an assistant with the Vancouver Grizzlies in 1997. When Frank became a head coach for the first time midway through the 2003-04 season with the Nets, he quickly hired Hill to assist him.

Frank, who has coached the Nets into the playoffs in each of his four seasons, never replaced Hill when he left the staff.