By Jerry Mittleman

The NBA playoffs are often referred to as the Second Season. This year, the real Second Season might be the current merry-go-round in the NBA coaching ranks with all it's Machiavellian maneuvering.

There is definitely unusual unrest and stirring in the NBA coaching universe. Usually, it's only the league's have-nots who are looking to fill coaching vacancies. This post-season you have high-caliber playoff teams like Philadelphia, Detroit, New Orleans (and possibly) Portland with openings. In addition, a potential NBA dynasty like Houston and the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers were also looking for that right man to guide them into the future. In short, a bevy of attractive coaching jobs became available.

On the other side of the coin, rarely had so many talented, experienced, high level coaches been available at the same time. Larry Brown, Paul Silas, Jeff Van Gundy, Mike Fratello and Mike Dunleavey and Rick Carlisle were all on the market. Even Rudy Tamjanovich is technically available, though he probably isn't interested in coaching at the moment.

What started as a trickle of job openings turned into a tidal wave, and not by happenstance. Rarely do teams fire successful top-grade coaches, like New Orleans, Houston (officially they accepted Rudy T.'s resignation) and Detroit did recently. With so many able men available, they probably sensed that now is the time to gamble, and the right coaching move could upgrade them to championship level. The corollary is that possibly Brown left the Sixers and Van Gundy is returning to the coaching ranks because of the wealth of green pastures.

The league is on the cusp of a power shift, now that the Lakers have been defeated and that Phil Jackson is expected to step down after one next season.

When you look at the current coaching shuffle as an attempt to fill a power vacuum, it makes a lot more sense. A lot of general managers and team owners are thinking that with the right tweak here or there they could be putting rings on their fingers.

The situation is fluid in both conferences. The Nets dominance in the East has to be seen as tenuous, as long as Jason Kidd might sign elsewhere and Byron Scott is rumored to replace Jackson in Los Angeles. New Orleans, Philadelphia, and Detroit, which is in line to get one of the three probable impact players in this year's draft, are all poising themselves to surplant New Jersey next year.

In the long term, the Western Conference is also up for grabs. Yao Ming and the Rockets, if developed properly, could eventually overtake San Antonio, Dallas, Sacramento and Los Angeles. Don Nelson may retire from the Mavericks in the next few years. Jackson will probably be gone from L.A. at the end of his contract and could eventually resurface in a less glaring coaching venue then Staples Center. This coaching shuffle of prime jobs opening up and top coaches filling them, probably hasn't ended. It could continue next year, or at least, as long the power situation, at the top of the league is still in flux.


Jerry Mittleman is a frequent contributor to InsideHoops.com.