The New Jersey Nets hired P.J. Carlesimo and Mario Elie as assistant coaches.

"When you talk about guys that I really respect that are coaches around the league — guys like Coach (Gregg) Popovich, who’s my mentor, and (New Orleans Saints coach) Sean Payton, who’s my really close friend, and I can go on and on, sometimes it’s about compatability and coachability, it’s about chemistry amongst the coaching staff, as well as chemistry amongst the players," Johnson said in making the announcement about Carlesimo and Elie, who will join holdovers Popeye Jones, Tom Barrise and Doug Overton from last year's staff. "We feel we got the right fit this year and hopefully, the guys that we have, they’ll be able to provide some continuity for us, so now we can have a staff that I can move forward with, not only this year, but the next couple of years."

Carlesimo will serve as Johnson's lead assistant, sitting next to Johnson and providing insight into the game coaching.