D’Antoni’s exit will put Kerr on hot seat

Any day now, news will break that Mike D'Antoni has been named coach of the Chicago Bulls or the New York Knicks or some other NBA club, and general manager Steve Kerr will be left with a perplexing and disturbing question:

Now what?

Before we try to answer that, let's be clear on one point: Neither Kerr nor D'Antoni are to blame for the dissolution of their marriage.

As GM, Kerr has every right to ask D'Antoni to make changes in the way he coaches.

At the same time, D'Antoni has every right to reject those changes and seek employment elsewhere.

Neither man is at fault. They simply have philosophical differences they can't bridge.

That said, Kerr took a huge gamble in pushing his beliefs on D'Antoni. He's known all along that his mandates - a deeper bench, greater attention to defense, holding Amaré Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa more accountable for their mistakes - would irk a proud man like D'Antoni and persuade him to look for another job.

And that's exactly what's happened.

And now the coach who led Phoenix to 232 wins, two Western Conference finals berths and three Pacific Division crowns over the past four seasons is about to take his innovative style to another club.

How sad.

There's no way D'Antoni can return next year. Every time the Suns lost three straight games, there would be talk about his job security and questions to Kerr about D'Antoni's coaching methods. It wouldn't be fair to D'Antoni, the players or the organization.

No, the question isn't whether D'Antoni stays or goes, it's who replaces him.

Doug Collins doesn't want the job. Rick Carlisle is in line to become the next Dallas Mavericks coach. Kerr isn't interested in Avery Johnson.

Jeff Van Gundy?

While defending D'Antoni in a recent interview, he torched owner Robert Sarver and Phoenix's bench players. That's not exactly a prerequisite for a positive job interview.

Kerr could hire a hot assistant like Boston's Tom Thibodeau, a defensive specialist who is credited for the Celtics ranking second in the league in scoring defense at 90.2 points per game.

But the Suns have, maybe, one more year to try to win a title. Can they afford to wait as a first-time head coach adapts to the job?

For the same reason, putting assistant GM Vinny Del Negro or broadcaster Eddie Johnson on the bench makes no sense.

They might know their basketball, but the Suns don't need a head coach with a learner's permit.

So here's what Kerr likely is looking for: An experienced NBA coach who can massage another season out of an aging roster, improve the team's defense when its three best players are below-average defensively and get more production from a bench that doesn't have a lot of talent to begin with.

And that coach has to want a job that isn't nearly as attractive as it was once was.

See why it's a gamble for Kerr to nudge D'Antoni out the door?

If Kerr strikes gold and the Suns win a title, he'll be hailed as the GM who had the guts to let a successful coach go.

But if D'Antoni's replacement strikes out while D'Antoni is winning 60 games with the Bulls, Kerr will be ripped for not letting the coach have his way.

Whatever happens, one thing is clear:

It's Kerr's team now.