Michael Jordan’s Bobcats can start to upgrade their status, from laughingstock franchise to serious rebuilding team, if they win the draft lottery and get to select Kentucky star Anthony Davis with the No. 1 pick next month.  But who would get to coach a player who is already being projected as a future franchise-changer?  Read more after the jump.
We’re hearing that the Bobcats may take a look at Jerry Sloan to replace Paul Silas.
The former Utah Jazz coach would be a tremendous, out-of-the-box choice and the first indication that Jordan is committed to turning his seven-win team around.
The obvious connection between Jordan and Sloan is that they both have their numbers hanging from the rafters in Chicago’s United Center. Beyond that, Jordan has great admiration for the coach he twice defeated in the Finals, at the end of his second three-peat.
Sloan might be tempted to return to the sidelines, if the situation and money are right. But what about taking over a team low on talent and embarking on a long rebuilding campaign, while working for an owner who doesn’t have deep pockets, doesn’t like to spend money on players and has been looking to sell half the team for close to a year?
Besides the Jordan issue, Sloan would also have to be willing to work under GM Rich Cho, who has been entrusted by Jordan to rebuild the team after it closed out the season with 23 straight losses and broke the NBA record by winning only 10.6% of its games.
“That would be like going from being the heavyweight champ to being a sparring partner,†said one Sloan confidant the other day. “Why go get beat up? Why would Jerry want to be in a rebuilding situation, at this stage of his life? He doesn’t take losing easy. He takes it hard.â€
Still, we could see Charlotte pursuing Sloan. Cho has always admired his coaching, going to back to when he was an aide in Seattle to then-GM Rick Sund, and then Sam Presti’s right-hand man in Oklahoma City.
Sloan’s critics have been saying he’s too old, pointing to how he and Deron Williams clashed in Utah during his 23rd and final season with the Jazz. But Sloan, who turned 70 in March and still acts and looks like he’s 10 years younger, has turned down six head coaching offers since last season, including rebuilding situations in Detroit and Golden State. Obviously, it’s not as if what happened with Williams is being viewed as a negative.
