FanHouse Eddie Jordan

ORLANDO -- Elton Brand sure seems like a nice enough guy -- respectful, courteous, thoughtful, engaging. He works hard, too.

Yet he also is beginning to look like an albatross hanging around the neck of the Philadelphia 76ers, the guy with the contract that will prevent them from building a serious contender in the coming years.

Brand, 30, is starting his 10th season in the league, but just the second year of that five-year, $80 million contract he signed as a free agent two summers ago. Although the Sixers were convinced that signing him was wise back then, they are having serious reservations now about the move.

It's one painful decision they would like to have back.

PHOENIX -- The Sixers almost came back from an 18-point deficit in the final eight minutes on Friday against the Suns, but the guys usually on the end of Phoenix's bench -- Dan Dickau, Carlos Powell, et al. -- were able to hang on just enough to secure a two-point victory.

Marreese Speights, a second-year player who averaged just under eight points and four rebounds a game last season, was a big reason for the Sixers' strong comeback. He scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, while also finishing with 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.

Even though this is the preseason, it was still a career game for Speights, and one that you'd think his new head coach, Eddie Jordan, would be excited about. But that wasn't exactly the case.

WASHINGTON -- Agent Zero and the Hibachi announced their retirements from the NBA Monday, making way for a newcomer named Gilbert Arenas.

At the Washington Wizards' media day at Verizon Center, Arenas, who has missed all but 15 games the last two seasons thanks to three operations on his left knee, claimed that he planned on being a serious player this year, not the one who was "goofing around'' in his previous eight seasons, when he assigned himself nicknames, blogged religiously, put on practice exhibitions whose videos went viral, showed off his "phenomenal swag,'' and generally turned himself into a colorful and popular character.

"When I was entertaining and playing, all you guys focused on were my words. Now I'd rather that you guys just focused on my basketball,'' Arenas said during a nearly half-hour interview session that, contrary to his usual mode, he began at precisely the scheduled time.

When Eddie Jordan got canned from the Wizards, primarily because he mishandled his roster after his starting All-Star point guard missed two years due to injury followed by his starting center going down before the start of this season, most people said the same thing.

"That guy's not going to be unemployed long.'

Today the Philadelphia 76ers made sure that prediction came true, and hired Jordan as their new head coach.

So was it the right move?

We have a second NBA coaching vacancy. Tony DiLeo, the 76er executive who took over for deposed Maurice Cheeks early this season, told Philadelphia GM Ed Stefanski he wanted to give up his coaching duties, according to Kate Fagan of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via The 700 Level). DiLeo will return to the front office.

The Kings had been the only coach-less franchise, and they'd taken their sweet time filling the void. Sacramento's first interviews -- Eddie Jordan and Paul Westphal -- have been scheduled for this week. Jordan has been considered a potential candidate for the Sixers job; E.J. was New Jersey's top assistant for several years of Stefanski's tenure there working under Rod Thorn. Doug Collins has also been mentioned profusely, as he was with the Chicago opening last spring.

For 24 hours, the NBA had no head coaching vacancies. That's a stunner for the week after season's end; usually there's a bloodbath immediately following the final regular season game. But Flip Saunders quickly replaced Ed Tapscott, Oklahoma City hurried to lock in Scott Brooks, and the other potential openings remained tentatively filled ...

... until the Kings declined the 2009-10 option on interim coach Kenny Natt's contract Thursday. The move had been expected with some certainty. But in comments related to the new opening, Geoff Petrie has raised some eyebrows about what kind of coach the team will seek.

The Rotation is a weekly study on the NBA by one of our All-Star voices. In rotation this week is Tom Ziller.

An annual tradition regular as daybreak, as the season ends a pack of coaches are mercilessly hacked to pieces by fans, media and often their own bosses. A parade of potential replacements jumps aboard the carousel. They dance, they preen ... one of them wins. A year or two or (fingers crossed) three later, said doll gets torn apart. The cycle continues.

There was a switch this season, though: the bloodletting happened during the season, as a record eight coaches met the iron maiden between opening night and Valentine's Day. Is there anyone left to execute at season's end?

Well ... yes. Of course there is. After the jump, we tell you whom and guess their replacements.

This is just getting ridiculous: the Kings fired Reggie Theus this morning, becoming the sixth NBA team this season to replace their head coach. According to Sam Amick of the Sacramento Bee, assistant coach Chuck Person will join Theus in the unemployment line, while assistant coach Kenny Natt will take over as interim head coach.

Theus' departure is hardly a surprise -- the Kings have dropped 10 of 11 games and have a dismal 6-18 record on the season. And as Tom Ziller pointed out over the weekend, getting blown out by the Knicks erased whatever goodwill Theus earned by upsetting the Lakers last week.

Natt lacks head coaching experience but certainly has an impressive resume. He joined the Kings last season after spending nine years working under Jerry Sloan in Utah and three under Mike Brown in Cleveland. All in all, he's spent 28 years preparing for this opportunity: after his NBA playing career ended after 49 games, he bounced around Europe and the minor leagues before doing everything from scouting, coaching and working in the front office.

That said, Natt might just be keeping the spot warm for Eddie Jordan, who was recently fired by the Wizards but rumored to be a favorite to take over in Philly and Sacramento. Stay tuned.

There was a dead certainty that some changes would be occurring in the Washington Wizards' organization following the team's 1-10 start.

And because it seemed unlikely that Ernie Grunfield would fire himself, and it was already too late to start trying to trade Gilbert Arenas or Antawn Jamison and because Caron Butler is the truth ... well, it stood to reason that the first scapegoat would be Eddie Jordan. According to the Post's Wizards Insider, that has now come to fruition.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the Wizards have relieved Coach Eddie Jordan of his duties. Jordan was informed of the decision this morning.

Ed Tapscott, who had carried the title of Director of Player Development but traveled with the team and essentially served as an extra assistant coach, will take over coaching duties, starting with a practice that will begin today at 11 a.m.

Again, I don't know if it's deserving -- Jordan has done a pretty fine job of coaching up what is a quasi-limited roster since he's been in Washington. And additionally, he's currently missing about $110 million worth of said roster ... but yeah, the team is in the basement of a very winnable division, Gil and Brendan Haywood are talking about not coming back this year if the playoffs aren't an option, and someone has to get blamed. If the reports are accurate, looks like that guy is Jordan.

If you're a Wizards fan, there's good news and bad news, or at least good news and not-so-good, maybe-bad, too-early-to-say news.

First, the good news: after talking the talk, DeShawn Stevenson finally walked the walk, leading the Wizards with 19 points in a rout over the Cavs. All five of his field goals came from long-distance, including a couple of shots right in LeBron James' grill. Maybe it was playing at home, maybe it was the freshly shorn mohawk, maybe it was having Soulja Boy sitting courtside. Who knows? Who cares? It happened, that's the important part.

Now, the not-so-good news: Gilbert Arenas made his first start since returning from surgery on his right knee but lasted just 10 minutes before leaving the game with a bone bruise in the same joint. From the Washington Times:

Arenas suffered the injury with 6:03 left in the first quarter and went to the bench. He spent the first half of the second quarter on an exercise bike, then played four minutes before leaving the game for good. He limped to the locker room, wincing and unable to bend his leg at all.