Ric Bucher's post on LA Sports | Latest updates on Sulia

As has been reported elsewhere, Phil Jackson is the Nets' top choice to be their next head coach and although

Phil's representatives already have said he's not interested at this time, Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov is probably going to need to look deeply into the Zenmaster's eyes, as he did pursuing Carmelo Anthony, and hear nyet several times before he accepts it. Money, as he has demonstrated, is no object, but at this point sources say Phil is far more interested in running a team from the front office and mentoring a head coach (Kurt Rambis, Brian Shaw) than doing the day-to-day, hand-to-hand combat the job requires, no matter how much Prokhorov might pay him. (We'll see if that stands up should Prokhorov throw some crazy number at him.) Other names that already have surfaced have been Nate McMillan, because of his relationship with Deron Williams from their time with the US National Team, and Jerry Sloan, purely out of misunderstanding that when Williams said Sloan's system was better than Avery's, it was a critique of Johnson, not an endorsement of Sloan. One more name that has surfaced and might just be the next in line should Jackson not succumb to Mikhail's charms: Mike Dunleavy. He was in the mix for the Lakers' job, he's a Brooklyn native and a quick glance at his resume (one trip to the Finals, two to the conference finals, 38-33 playoff record) would indicate he's the next most accomplished coach available after Jackson. (I'm not including Larry Brown, because Deron knows LeBron and Carmelo far too well and there's no chance they'd endorse him after their experience playing for him on the national team.)