Scott Brooks Would Be Succeeded By Whom? And What Would You Trademark Linsanity For?

Talk about an awkward triangle. Rumors have it that Phil Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy are next in line for the Oklahoma City Thunder job if Scott Brooks doesn’t get the new contract he wants. Brooks’ deal runs out at the end of the month, and some think he could parlay an NBA Finals coaching job into a fat new deal no matter where. Some even might think that group includes coaches looking for new jobs, but here’s what’s wrong: This whole rumor rests on the assumption Brooks would bolt for more money anywhere. Granted, we haven’t been camping out on the Great Plains all year like OKC beat writers, and we don’t know Brooks’ intentions. But the last thing he strikes us as is a guy who would take a heap of cash with a loser to a still-sizable amount (who says OKC won’t pay him handsomely?) with a proven contender? It just seems like he would scratch his eyes out in buyer’s remorse if he chose to go to, say, Portland and build it up from the ground and not be able to enjoy the spoils of his hard work. If he hops now he’d be like Pete Best and the Beatles. What jobs would he possibly leave for, anyway? Exactly. Maybe his personality lessens his leverage a little bit with management (sensing he wants to stay and build a winner into a titan) but his achievements are no lie. Pay the man, and keep this P Jax talk to a minimum. GM and wunderkind Sam Presti, for his part, calls the talk “rubbish.” Preach. … One more reason for Brooks to stay is James Harden. It’s hard to forget his Finals performances but he says he “loves” OKC, according to reports over the weekend, and wants to re-sign. … More upper management talk is swirling. Danny Ferry is being interviewed by Atlanta with GM Rick Sund‘s contract ending at the end of June. Some are reporting the team’s offering him a six-year deal. Ferry, who just got joined by Shane Battier as the only Dukies to win an NBA title, was no slouch in Cleveland, but he also had the gift of LeBron in his lap to make everything easier. We’re kind of lukewarm on Ferry but should he miss out on Atlanta’s job, there’s always spots open in Orlando. The Orlando Sentinel broke late Sunday that the team fired assistant GM Dave Twardzik and six scouts. Dave who? you ask. If you didn’t know him, it’s no big deal. But one person who did know him is Dwight Howard. You get the feeling that new Orlando GM Rob Hennigan is leaving a scorched-earth policy around the Amway Center, blowing away anything that touched the previous reign Howard so disdained. Speaking of other tenures (except this time in the complete opposite sense), Hennigan comes from the gold mine of OKC’s front office. Rich Cho and now Hennigan have served under Presti and are now GMs and teams covet that experience building from the draft up. … Side note: Do Presti and GM Theo Epstein of the Cubs have a direct line, like a Batphone, so the boy-genius GMs can talk about upcoming trends we know nothing about yet? … Twardzik, among other jobs, helped prep the team for its draft selections. Interesting to see how this goes for Hennigan in the next week. … We peeped a pretty good story today about the Kyrie Irving/Uncle Drew phenomenon, 11.5 million clicks on YouTube and counting. What was funniest was how they framed it. They took kids from Bloomfield, N.J., near Irving’s home courts, and told them they were making a documentary. Only the dude who pulls out with injury knew it was Irving under that makeup. You know the guys who got trashed in the making of that shoot went from “I’m never telling anyone about this” to “Yeah, that was me! I got a piece of him” once they found out quicker than Drew’s crossover hit ’em in the first place. Irving also said he was not looking forward to the four hours of makeup each day, and the concept wasn’t necessarily his favorite either, apparently. … Another story that makes you wonder about some people was one from the New York Times about the backstory of Jeremy Lin trademarking “Linsanity” within 36 hours of his blowing up. After his fifth game, to be exact, says his legal team from D.C. The mark protects him for anything that would have the term stamped, sewn or print. Anyway, here’s the best part: what everyone else who applied for the trademark wanted to use it in. Get ready: Chef’s hats? Check. “Fire-retardent pajamas for toddlers”? Yep. Just cell phone cases? Yes. So what would your business plan on Linsanity center around? … Unless this thing goes down like Mike Dunlap in Charlotte, get ready for a top two of Dallas and Brooklyn for Deron Williams. Sources tell outlets that the top-three guard in the game wants to be in BK or near home in Texas. Mark Cuban vs. Jay-Z competing for D-Will is going to be awesome and bloodthirsty. … We’re out like Uncle Drew.