Aldridge: Lakers to talk to D'Antoni, Dunleavy

If the Lakers are doing this for any other reason than to make it appear like they didn't already have Phil Jackson in their pocket when they fired Mike Brown, then it is a little bit disappointing given all of the positive momentum that was established earlier in the day about a potential return to coaching by Phil Jackson.

NBA.com's David Aldridge is reporting that the Lakers will speak with Mike D'Antoni and Mike Dunleavy in the coming days while Jackson mulls over his options.

The D'Antoni news is no surprise, as his name has been floating around since Mike Brown was fired (and most people here seem to think he'd be a good back-up plan if Phil falls through), but Dunleavy's name is out of the blue given the quality of candidates left on the market. You'd have to think Jerry Sloan would get a call before Dunleavy got a meeting with the Lakers' brass.

Hopefully this is nothing more than a smokescreen and that we can get back to planning Phil's comeback party.