Two names floating around to be head coaches next year are Indiana Pacers assistant Brian Shaw and Orlando assistant Patrick Ewing. Both are going to interview for the Charlotte job in the upcoming weeks. Dwight Howard has said before that he wants Brian Shaw to be his coach in Orlando.
Ewing will interview with Charlotte next week and Shaw says that he will not speak with teams until the Pacers' playoff run is finished. Both coaches' times are up as assistants and they need to make the jump to head coach now.
Shaw was widely expected to take over in Los Angeles for Phil Jackson last off-season, but the Lakers front office chose Mike Brown instead. That brought Shaw to Indiana to be Frank Vogel's right-hand man. Ewing has been with Orlando for all of his coaching career helping Dwight Howard develop into the All-Star he currently is.
Patrick Ewing is close friends with Bobcats owner Michael Jordan and that could sway Jordan to put Ewing in as the new coach there, but if Charlotte lands that number one pick in the NBA Draft Lottery on May 30th they will get even bigger names calling for that job with the addition of Anthony Davis.
Charlotte is also looking at Golden State assistant Michael Malone, who is the highest paid assistant in the NBA.
Then, you get to the circus in Orlando involving Dwight Howard and for now current coach Stan Van Gundy. Howard and Van Gundy have had their share of drama over the last month over allegations that Howard told Magic brass to fire Van Gundy for him to stay with Orlando. Van Gundy isn't fired yet, but it's believed he most likely will this off-season.
If he is gone, look for Orlando trying to get a hold of Shaw to be their next head coach. Howard wants either Shaw or Malone. Shaw also is a former player for Orlando, playing with them from 1994-97. If Orlando wants to keep their star in Howard happy, look for them to give Shaw a pretty nice offer if he's still available.
The coaching carousel is already spinning. It will spin even faster once we hit the NBA off-season. Look out for Shaw and Ewing to be a head coach heading into next season.
Evan Sidery is a contributing writer for FootBasket. He is a fan of the Colts and Pacers. You can see more about him by following him on Twitter.
