Avery Johnson opened Tuesday's press conference by promising, as did his boss, to win the NBA championship. "I'm going to work morning, noon and night to get the Big Trophy," said Johnson.

"The sky's the limit," said Johnson in front of dozens of reporters and cameramen at the PNY Center. "We can go from worst to first."

Among the other highlights of the the press conference:

--"Brook Lopez is a really terrifically talented center who I am looking forward to working with...I see a lot of potential in Brook. He should be a perennial All-Star and we are trying to help him get there."

--"We're going to get Devin Harris back to playing the type of basketball we know he's capable of playing..."Devin is a little older, he knows my system, and I can give him the reigns now."

--"We're in a great situation here with the Nets. We've got plenty of draft picks, quite a bit of money to spend. We have an owner who is all in, and he wants to win and he wants to win now...just a great basketball mind in Rod Thorn that's heading up this whole deal and I'm just happy to be part of the team."

--"I'm all about dreaming. I have a big dream in my mind right now in terms of where this franchise can go and where we can take it. I see all of the possibilities, but that's going to require a lot of discipline and details and determination."

--"You look at what we already have with Devin and Brook Lopez and Courtney Lee and some of the other guys we already have on our team, Yi (Jianlian), if we add the right free agents, three really good draft prospects to our existing roster...we feel that team can have an opportunity to be really good."

At one member of last year's 12-70 team was impressed with the day's events. "It's good to see the culture change around here," said Lopez.

Avery Johnson will receive a three-year contract from Nets, Y! Sports has learned.

Sources: Nets, Johnson agree
The New Jersey Nets and ESPN analyst Avery Johnson have reached a verbal agreement to hire Johnson as the Nets' new coach, according to sources close to the process.

Johnson, who has been working for ESPN since his dismissal from the Dallas Mavericks after the 2007-08 season, was the NBA's Coach of the Year in 2005 and took the Mavs to the NBA Finals in 2006. He posted a record of 194-70 in three-plus seasons, good for a winning percentage of .735, and will be reunited in New Jersey with point guard Devin Harris.

Johnson was a finalist for the coaching job in Atlanta, having met Saturday with Hawks general manager Rick Sund for his third in-person visit with the team. The Hawks are expected to make their choice this week, after conducting multiple interviews with Mavericks assistant Dwane Casey, holdover Hawks assistant Larry Drew, ESPN analyst Mark Jackson and Johnson.

The arrival of Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov as the Nets' new owner initially prompted speculation that New Jersey would try to lure Duke's Mike Krzyzewski to the pros with an offer of $12 million to $15 million annually.

The Nets also had strong interest in ESPN/ABC analyst Jeff Van Gundy, but Van Gundy told team president Rod Thorn that he wanted to stay in television for at least one more season.

Johnson was the only known candidate to get a face-to-face interview with Thorn, although Boston Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau did have phone discussions with the Nets before striking a verbal agreement with the Chicago Bulls.

ESPN.com reported in early April that Harris was making a hard internal push for his former coach in Dallas, despite the fact that Johnson rode Harris hard as he was learning the nuances of NBA point guard play.

The Nets’ coaching candidates continue to dwindle. The list, Rod Thorn said just a few minutes ago, is “pretty small.”
It was four-to six. It’s now what?
“Down to two-to-three,” Thorn said.

Avery Johnson definitely is on the list and it’s possible Thorn could speak to him again this week via phone.
Mike Brown is no longer on the list. He’s either going to take some time off or pursue something else, but it doesn’t seem as the current Cavs’ coach is interested in the Nets.
Other guys who are gone are Jeff Van Gundy, Monty Williams (the new Hornets coach) and Tom Thibodeau (the future Bulls coach).

It doesn’t leave many names, especially since Thorn was asked whether he was waiting for anyone still in the playoffs.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
Thorn also said he never spoke to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.

Thorn said he may still do some face-to-face interviews, but it probably won’t be this week since the Nets have the big three-day workout starting tomorrow, with a total of 21 NBA teams, in their facility.

“Other than probably by phone I don’t think I’ll do anything,” Thorn said. “I’ll have some phone conversations.
“Maybe it’s people we’ve already talked to.”

Thorn continues to say he has no timetable to name a new coach.
He also said, contrary to what you’ve read, the coaching search has nothing to do with his contract status. He’s under contract until June 30 and is expected to receive a new deal in the next few weeks.

***

The Nets have been involved in some talks regarding current players and their draft picks, but Thorn doesn’t foresee them moving the No. 3 pick at this time.
“I would say we probably will hold on to it,” he said. “There’s always a chance you can move it, but I would say we probably would hold on to it.”

Al Iannazzone, In the 'Zzone blog.