[新聞] Sources: Mavs may hire Carlisle as early as Friday
Carlisle says talks are 'moving along,' could be hired by Mavs Friday
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3384674
By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Friday is the earliest that the Dallas Mavericks will complete the expected
hiring of Rick Carlisle as their new coach, according to NBA coaching sources.
Sources told ESPN.com that Carlisle is scheduled to make his second trip to
Dallas at week's end after two days' worth of interviews with the Mavericks
last week which established him as the clear favorite to replace the fired
Avery Johnson.
After Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson turned down
owner Mark Cuban's invitation to move to the bench, Carlisle was the first
candidate to interview for the Mavericks' vacancy. Carlisle followed up last
Thursday's sitdown in Indianapolis with Nelson by flying to Dallas for
face-to-face meetings with Cuban and an introductory meeting with star
forward Dirk Nowitzki.
Barring an unexpected breakdown in negotiations, sources said, Carlisle could
be officially introduced as Dallas' next coach on Friday or Monday.
Multiple sources close to the process have described a forthcoming four-year
contract as a "done deal," although Dallas continues to insist that it has no
agreement in place with Carlisle, who is completing his first full season as
an ESPN analyst.
"We are making significant progress," Nelson told ESPN.com
Over the weekend Nelson acknowledged that the "short list" of potential
replacements for Johnson is "very short."
It's a list that does not appear to include Mike D'Antoni, with Dallas
declining to take advantage of D'Antoni's sudden availability by following
Chicago and New York's lead and requesting an immediate interview with the
Suns' coach.
Cuban has yet to comment on the Mavs' search, but Carlisle told The Dallas
Morning News in a story posted on its Web site Tuesday night: "My agent has
returned from Europe, and we're still talking. We're moving in a good
direction. Things are moving along."
Agent Warren LeGarie told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in another story
posted Tuesday night: "It seems at this point we're moving closer. We're
finding more in agreement than disagreement, more common ground. We're moving
toward concluding a deal."
ESPN.com reported last week that Nelson was Cuban's first choice to replace
Johnson, but club sources say Nelson does not want to leave his personnel
post and that Cuban will not try to force Nelson to reconsider. In an
interview last Thursday with ESPN Radio's Dallas affiliate [KESN 103.3 FM],
Nelson did not dispute the idea that the job would already be his if he
wanted it but also insisted, "I think there's better candidates out there."
That stance quickly led Dallas to Carlisle, who, according to team sources,
plans to bring two recent former NBA head coaches -- Dwane Casey and Terry
Stotts -- to Dallas as assistants on his staff.
If this widely anticipated marriage does not collapse, Carlisle and his new
employers will inevitably face questions about his past personality clashes
in Detroit and Indianapolis and coaching style that will be likened to the
conservative, controlling Johnson. But Carlisle, 48, would also appear to
offer the best blend of offensive and defensive pedigree after posting a
record of 281-211 (.571) in stints with the Pistons and Pacers. Mavericks
management -- and Nowitzki specifically -- have spoken of balance as a
priority in recent days.
After serving as an offensive coordinator of sorts for Larry Bird with the
Pacers during Bird's strong three-season stint as Pacers coach from 1997-98
through 1999-2000 -- which included a trip to the 2000 NBA Finals -- Carlisle
won NBA Coach of the Year honors in his first season in Detroit in 2001-02.
He posted consecutive 50-32 records before the Pistons replaced him with
Larry Brown. Carlisle moved to the Pacers and went 61-21 in his first season
before losing in the conference finals to Brown during Detroit's 2004
championship run. He then guided the Pacers to two more playoff bids in spite
of seemingly constant off-court turmoil and injury which followed Indiana's
infamous brawl in Detroit in November 2004.
Carlisle has also interviewed with the Chicago Bulls and the New York Knicks
but is not believed to be a finalist for either job. Johnson interviewed
Tuesday with new Knicks team president Donnie Walsh and joins ex-Knicks guard
Mark Jackson, also an ESPN analyst, as a strong contender for the New York
job. Jackson has likewise interviewed with Chicago, but signals are growing
stronger by the day that D'Antoni is the favorite to fill the Bulls' opening
now that the Suns have allowed him to search for a new job.
Back in Dallas, this is the first time Cuban -- for all his perceived
volatility -- has fired a coach and the first time he's considering external
candidates.
Cuban inherited Don Nelson as a coach when he assumed ownership control of
the Mavs in January 2000 and ultimately gave Nelson two contract extensions
after they hit it off in those first few months together. Cuban then targeted
Johnson as Nelson's replacement when Johnson was still a player and assistant
coach, repeatedly observing Johnson's ability to lead and motivate from his
daily seat in close proximity to the Dallas bench. Don Nelson, furthermore,
asked out more than he was pushed out in March 2005.
Yet it looks as though Cuban is prepared to move quicker than anyone
expected, even though giving such a big job to someone he knows well -- as he
generally likes to do in his businesses -- would only be possible this time
if Donnie Nelson changed his mind and asked for his clipboard back.
Although he was once a hot-shot coaching prospect before his full-time move
to the front office when Johnson took over as head coach, Donnie Nelson
insists that's not an option.
"My job is to get the best guy that we can get out there," Donnie Nelson said
in his radio interview. "I'm on the list. I'm just the last guy and hopefully
it doesn't get to that. ... I'm saying we'd have to get through a very, very
long list in order for [Donnie Nelson to coach the team] and don't look for
it to happen."
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