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D'Antoni's hiring might end NBA coaching carousel

BY ALAN HAHN | alan.hahn@newsday.com

May 8, 2008

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Consider Mike D'Antoni the first D'omino. But Mark Jackson still is expected to be the piece that falls into place for the Knicks.

After the soon-to-be-former Phoenix Suns coach decides on his next team - basically he either accepts less money from Chicago or reconsiders his options in Phoenix - the expectation is that other openings would then be filled accordingly. Aside from the Dallas Mavericks, who appear settled on Rick Carlisle, the Knicks, Bulls and, subsequently, Suns, will impact each other in some way.

While some believe the Toronto Raptors could be a team lying in the weeds in the D'Antoni situation - considering his relationship with Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo from their days in Phoenix - that is not an option. The Toronto Globe & Mail yesterday on its Web site reported that when Suns managing partner Robert Sarver told D'Antoni he had permission to speak with other teams, Sarver said Colangelo's Raptors were the lone omission.

It is widely believed that if Colangelo were able to replace Sam Mitchell with D'Antoni, Knicks president Donnie Walsh would have swooped in to hire Mitchell, last season's Coach of the Year. Despite some publicized differences of opinion, regardless of Sarver's exclusion, Colangelo has maintained that Mitchell is his man.

And, as a result, Jackson remains Walsh's man.

The Suns reportedly set tomorrow as a soft deadline for D'Antoni to find another job. While it is unlikely he would remain with the franchise if he doesn't find a job by then, it could accelerate the process. As of yesterday, D'Antoni had not received a formal contract offer from either the Bulls or Knicks. But in conversations about finances, the Bulls and D'Antoni hit a snag, which is why those with knowledge of the situation believe the Knicks are very much in the running to land him.

Bulls executive John Paxson is trying to be conservative with his offer because he is still on the hook for $5 million to Scott Skiles, who was fired last December. D'Antoni would be walking away from $8.5 million, which is the amount left on his contract with the Suns, so he wants to make up that money in his new gig.

Former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson, who met with Walsh on Tuesday, might come the cheapest of the two Coach of the Year winners available because he is scheduled to get $3.8 million in severance from the Mavericks. The question about Johnson, aside from his questionable in-game coaching acumen, is his history of being thin-skinned with the media, which would be a major concern in the New York crucible.

The Suns, meanwhile, likely would replace D'Antoni with former Bulls and Wizards coach Doug Collins, who lives in the Phoenix area and currently is an analyst with TNT. Suns GM Steve Kerr is also said to be enamored with Celtics associate coach Tom Thibodeau, whom he tried to get D'Antoni to hire as an assistant last season.

If D'Antoni doesn't work out in Chicago, Thibodeau would move to the top of Paxson's list.

And yet another market, Atlanta, may soon factor in the coaching situation after yesterday's announcement that Hawks executive Billy Knight will resign as of July 1 (and yet another longtime Walsh associate immediately becomes a potential front office hire for the Knicks). Hawks coach Mike Woodson's contract expires at the end of June, which suggests, despite a strong first-round showing against the Celtics, a major change could take place there. Some around the NBA foresee Johnson as the best fit, though the Hawks do have the type of athletic team that would thrive in D'Antoni's uptempo system.

D'Antoni, however, isn't likely to wait that long.