There is no salary cap for coaches in the NBA, so if Paul Allen wants to offer Phil Jackson or Larry Brown $10 million a year to coach the Trail Blazers, well, maybe it could happen. But I doubt it. Assuming Jackson and Brown will be elsewhere and Jerry Sloan, despite the worst season during his tenure with Utah, will stay in Salt Lake City, here are six candidates who make some sense, and why: ? Rick Adelman. The Kings exercised their option for next season, but Sacramento?s window of opportunity for a championship has closed, at least for now. They might be willing to let Adelman go and move on to a new era. Many standout players have blossomed and played the best ball of their career under Adelman ? Clyde Drexler, Rod Strickland, Latrell Sprewell and Chris Webber, for example ? and his ability to maximize talent would be a major plus in Portland. ? Nate McMillan. Unless Seattle re-signs him, McMillan becomes a free agent after the season. Has anyone done a better coaching job this season? The man exudes class, enforces discipline and knows how to run a club. ? Terry Porter. Word is he may be out in Milwaukee at season?s end. He did one of NBA?s best coaching jobs last season and will be a better coach in his second tour of duty. Integrity and work ethic beyond question. ? Lionel Hollins. Memphis assistant and veteran NBA aide has had only one shot as a head coach ? 18-42 on an interim basis in Vancouver ? and I?m not quite sure why. Bright basketball mind, excellent experience and a respected name in Portland. ? Jerry Sichting. Another ex-Blazer who has carved a reputation as a thinking man?s assistant with Minnesota. ? Dwane Casey. Sonic assistant has been in Seattle almost longer than Starbucks. Tireless worker who is more than ready for an opportunity. And by the way ? Steve Kerr could be an NBA head coach right now. The man has few peers in the areas of basketball knowledge, intelligence and communication skills. Remember, Pat Riley went straight from the broadcasting booth to the bench and did all right. ? You won?t hear Mike Riley say it, but the Oregon State coach believes the changes he has made will make his staff of assistants much stronger than it was last season. Old staff: Mark Banker, defensive coordinator/safeties; Paul Chryst, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks; DelVaughn Alexander, wide receivers; Nigel Burton, cornerbacks; Charlie Camp, linebackers; Jim Gilstrap, offensive line; Lee Hull, running backs; LeCharls McDaniel, tight ends; Greg Newhouse, defensive line; and Bruce Read, special teams. New staff: Banker, defensive coordinator/safeties; Danny Langsdorf, offensive coordinator; Burton, cornerbacks; Mike Cavanaugh, offensive line; Gilstrap, running backs; Hull, receivers; Newhouse, defensive line; Robin Ross, linebackers; and Read, special teams. Also, the graduate assistants are ex-Beaver safety Keith Heyward-Johnson on defense and Kanani Souza on offense. Souza, a former University of Hawaii assistant who guided Kamehameha Schools to the state high school championship last fall, will coach tight ends at OSU. Riley will miss Chryst, now co-offensive coordinator at Wisconsin, but he is thrilled to be able to add Langsdorf, whom he tried to hire when he returned to OSU two years ago. ? Les Harrison has spent 19 years entertaining basketball fans alongside Curly Neal, Meadowlark Lemon and the greats of Harlem Globetrotter fame. Now, the Portland resident hopes to introduce ?comedy basketball? to a group of inner-city youths. Harrison, executive director of Showtime Athletics, soon will have an open tryout for a team of middle-school and high-school boys to pass on the skills he has used over the past two decades. He hopes to collaborate with the Portland Police Bureau?s GREAT (Gang Resistance Education and Training) program to identify kids who need to be directed in a positive way. Call 503-771-1116 for details. ?I would teach the kids to do things that they can perform at halftime of high school games, at the Shriner?s Hospital and those sort of things,? says Harrison, 40, who played at George Fox in the mid-1980s. ?I want this group of kids to feel special. Comedy basketball is all about giving. Our goal is to make people smile. The kids will learn that. Their job will be to perform and make people?s lives better, even for a couple of minutes or a couple of laughs.? The group, which will be dubbed the Showtime Road Kings, will debut June 4 in Troutdale. Neal has confirmed an appearance, and Lemon is a maybe. Harrison, who played for the Shooting Stars and Harlem Globetrotter Legends and still plays for the Harlem All-Stars, also is putting together a group of youths who will perform comedy bits in wheelchair basketball. ?I enjoy it,? he says. ?I hope everybody else will, too.? ? Oregon needs immediate help at linebacker. Blair Phillips should be what coach Mike Bellotti ordered. The 6-2, 240-pound transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College will compete for a starting job at inside linebacker next fall. Playing outside linebacker for Mississippi Gulf Coast, Phillips registered a team-high 109 tackles and six sacks and was named the team?s defensive MVP. Phillips says he turned down offers from Oklahoma State, Mississippi, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Alabama Birmingham, Baylor and Troy to cast his lot with the Ducks. What won him over? ?I have to say, the way I was received by the coaching staff and players,? says Phillips, a psychology major. ?They all seemed honest. It seemed like they genuinely cared for me besides football. Everybody else wanted me to come in and be the stud linebacker.?
