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Over the weekend, the Jazz announced that Jerry Sloan would be back for his 22nd year as head coach in 2009-10, the longest stint for any head coach in any of the professional sports.

On the exact opposite of the longevity spectrum, the Thunder and Timberwolves are mulling the futures of Scott Brooks and Kevin McHale, respectively, two of the newest members of the NBA's head coaching fraternity. Will they remain with Sloan in that elite group?

We touted the dismissal of P.J. Carlesimo as coach of the Thunder as a potential boon for the career of Kevin Durant, for two reasons: interim Scott Brooks immediately moved KD to small forward from two-guard, and the Thunder figured to slow the pace, lowering the opportunity for mistakes. Brooks has had 13 games in charge of the Thunder, just as many as Carlesimo had this season. So how's the re-invention going? Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus investigates.

Durant has improved virtually across the board. ... The two most efficient ways to score are on threes and at the free-throw line, and Durant has improved his sum of the two categories from 14.3 percent of his possessions under Carlesimo to 28.0 percent under Brooks. Quite simply, Durant is playing a different game. ... Durant has gone from a low-efficiency, volume shooter to the kind of lethal, highly-efficient scorer he was in his lone season at Texas. And he's done it while slashing his turnovers as well.

Pelton has all the numbers, and I encourage you to check them out. It's certainly a promising sign. From the cheap seats, Brooks' 1-12 record makes it seem like there's been no improvement. But quietly, Durant's becoming the player we'd dreamt of. And it's all because Brooks has put some other shooters on the floor with him.

As we've discussed, Oklahoma City saw two major changes last weekend: Scott Brooks replaced P.J. Carlesimo as coach, and Kevin Durant moved from the two-guard to small forward (which adds a second guard -- Damien Wilkins -- to the lineup). How has Durant taken to the shifts?

Well, Durant lead the Thunder to its second win of the season, this one at Memphis. Durant had 30 points on 16 FGAs. He had 16 FTAs, tying a career high. Despite mounting losses, KD has played well in four of the five games since the move. (The outlier: a 13-point, 6-for-16 shooting night matched up against the world's best player, LeBron James.)

But the positive changes haven't just helped Durant: Russell Westbrook got his first career start Saturday, replacinga healthy Earl Watson. Westbrook had 12/5/4 in 38 minutes with only two turnovers. The team has also taken to the slower styles Brook implemented, slicing its turnover rate magnificently. (Who knew young players would be better off in a patient offense where they can think things through instead of being forced to read on the fly?) Brooks wasted no time in shaking up the Thunder. When you take over a 1-12 team, I guess things can only get better. But Brooks seems to be exceeding all expectations to this point.

Most in-season coaching moves in the NBA do little more than signal to upset fans that losing is unacceptable or perhaps shift moods in the locker room. But as we argued Saturday, the change in the Oklahoma City foretells larger concerns. Analysts expected Scott Brooks to slow down the fast but ugly Thunder attack when P.J. Carlesimo and top deputy Paul Westhead were sacked. Some fans, like myself, hoped Brooks would also shift Kevin Durant to the small forward position, his more natural home despite 90-some games as a two-guard.

Wish granted, reports Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.

Durant says he's ready to take on the move full time.

"I definitely am," Durant said. "That's my natural position. I've been playing that mostly my whole life. The last game I felt a lot more comfortable at (small forward), guarding (small forwards) and just helping my team out in different areas. So I'm excited."

From an individual perspective, Durant's numbers should shoot up: his field goal percentage will be much better, adding a perimeter player will eventually space the floor more for his excellent slashing skills to take shape, and you'd expect him to earn a few more rebounds on each end. For the team, it's also a smart move long-term: it's a lot easier to find an undervalued two-guard than a power forward. Of late, teams have been allergic to shooting guards in the draft, with Eric Gordon the only true two taken in the top 10 last June. In the immediately (the next two years), OKC should be able to fill the two slot with a serviceable player. Going forward, it'll be easier to nab a high-power two than it would have been to find a four.

Most players appear diplomatic when a coach gets fired midseason, sure to share hope for tomorrow while careful of stomping on the grave of the unemployed. As Kevin Durant is even-handed/spirited at all times, his comments on the sacking of P.J. Carlesimo and simultaneous promotion of Scott Brooks are not surprising.

"Not taking anything away from P.J., he wanted the best out of us," said Durant. "But Scott did a great job of giving us a little bit of room for error. Once we messed up he just told us what we needed to do better and told us that play was over. I think that kind of made us feel a little better. We just got to continue to build on it."

Honest, measured and expected, just as you'd prefer from a potenital-ridden buck like Durant. There's also another factor I hadn't considered Saturday: with Carlesimo, so-called offensive coordinator Paul Westhead, the guru of go, was sacked. Westhead had implemented a fast offense as Carlesimo's top deputy, one which never resembled anything beautiful because of the vast oceans of inefficiency on the roster.

Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus suggested Brooks would slow things down. (Pelton has since written a lot more on Brooks' background and goals.) The early returns suggest that's right: under Carlesimo on Friday against New Orleans, the Thunder had roughly 99 possessions (despite N.O. playing a slow brand of basketball). Under Brooks on Saturday, the pace was down to 86. It will take time to figure just how much Brooks will slow down the Thunder's attack, but a reverse Tony Barone wouldn't be a shock. (Barone took over for Mike Fratello early in 2006-07. The league's slowest team became one of the fastest overnight. Memphis still sucked, of course. But they sucked quickly.)

I think it is safe to say that P.J. Carlesimo will never be an NBA head coach ever again. It took so long for Carlesimo to overcome the stigma of being the coach that Latrell Sprewell choked -- and when P.J. did eventually get a head job, it was one of the least desirable gigs in modern memory.

The Sonics/Thunder weren't just rebuilding when Carlesimo took the job; the team was completely cratering. In that sense, 21 wins and 74 losses isn't terribly surprising, and the 22% winning percentage shouldn't be completely hung around P.J.'s neck. But it will be. He's never getting an interview for a head job again.

It's Christmas Eve and Tyrus Thomas has no one scold him. This won't do. As of this second, there's no indication as to Scott Skiles' replacement as civilian leader of the Bulls. It's alright, actually -- Chicago doesn't strap them on until Wednesday, when the team visits San Antonio, who has lost only a single game at home this season.

So really, the next real game John Paxson needs to concern himself with is Friday's home tilt against Milwaukee. Surely, a current assistant such as Ron Adams or Pete Myers can manage the team until then. (Jim Boylan, Chicago's lead assistant, is a Skiles guy, having coached under him in Phoenix as well as being the lead assistant for the duration of the Skiles era in Chicago.) Will Paxson be able to locate his replacement (assuming it is not a dreaded 'interim' fellow like Adams or Myer) by then, what with the celebration of the birth of Christ and all?