Frank did a very good job on Byron Scott’s staff in the early 2000’s, which was what eventually what led him to get the head job there when Scott was fired by the Nets. After Frank was fired by the Nets, he became Doc Rivers’ lead assistant in Boston – replacing Tom Thibodeau – and did an outstanding job running the defense as the Celtics reached Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals.
Frank’s prior relationship with Kidd, his knowledge of the organization and his knowledge of the area (he grew up in nearby Teaneck, N.J.) make him a natural fit.
Speaking of natural fits, I’m not sure Kidd will ever find a better fit than this one.
He has a close relationship with Deron Williams, who has quickly developed a reputation – fair or not – as a coach killer. Kidd’s hiring was certainly not done with Williams’ input, although it should greatly please him and keep him working along with the program.
Williams has a habit of souring easily and undermining team chemistry with passive-aggressive locker room behavior. A former teammate once described Williams as “The King of the Eyeroll.” In other words, no player elicits more eye rolls from teammates than Williams does when he opens his mouth.
These are issues the Nets hope to eliminate with a coach who is a good friend of the team’s 
biggest star.
The cautionary portion of the job for Kidd is the expectation of ownership. Mikhail Prokhorov believes he has a championship contender on his hands, one of the reasons interim coach P.J. Carlesimo was happy when he was not retained because he does not believe the Nets are good enough to compete for a title. Kidd is going to be expected to do that in short order.
Kidd’s learning curve may be a little steep early on. How patient will ownership be with him? It’s an interesting question. There was a time not so long ago in this league where the belief was a player – even one with the pedigree of Kidd – needed to serve as an assistant before taking the head job. Jackson’s success in Golden State has changed that.
With a projected payroll over $90 million for next season and a still glistening arena to keep full, Kidd is not going to be given a wealth of time to cut his teeth. Prokhorov, CEO Brett Yormark and GM Billy King expect to win early and often.
There’s only one thing that earns Kidd a little more slack: marketing.
Kidd is a franchise legend and as marketable as it gets for the Nets, who have always wanted a big name on the marquee as their coach. Now they have it, in a big way. The team’s favorite son comes home at the end of his career to deliver a reborn franchise to glory. It’s a wonderful story, one that sells tickets.
The bottom line is that if the Nets are patient with a young coach with no resume but all the cache, knowledge, and people skills necessary to be successful, they will have a very good coach for years to come.
But if they continue to fall victim to unrealistic expectations, not even a franchise legend can save them.
Brian Geltzeiler is the executive producer and co-host of SheridanHoops Radio and the editor of hoopcritic.com. His father, Burt, was an elite player for Newark-Rutgers in the late 1940s and was drafted by the Tri-Cities Hawks in 1950 by GM Red Auerbach. You can follow Brian, who lives in Livingston, N.J. with his wife and 4 children, on Twitter.