Out of work, Avery will learn, earn

A month later, and Avery Johnson does not have work.

"Not true," disagreed Johnson, who added with a laugh, "I actually have the best job in basketball, thanks to Mark."

OK, due to the generosity of Mr. Cuban in fully guaranteeing his contract, which was noted by Avery on Thursday, he will earn $4 million next season, and if he so desires, $8 million over the following two seasons. For doing nothing.

As Don Nelson once noted, "getting fired has always been the best thing to happen to me, or at least to my bank account."

But it's also been a strange week in NBA head coaching hires.

Terry Porter got a job. Michael Curry got a job. And for total weirdness, even Vinny Del Negro was hired.

Meanwhile, Johnson and Flip Saunders (fired by the Pistons), who between them have one NBA Finals and three Eastern Conference Finals on their résumés in the last three years, will not be coaching next season.

On his way out of town, Johnson had predicted this would be the case for him, "unless something jumps up unexpectedly that would cause me to change my mind."

Since then, he had one meeting, that with Donnie Walsh, the new team president of the Knicks, who flew to Houston for a three-hour discussion. But Johnson also knew that Mike D'Antoni was the Knicks' first choice, and he was eventually the hire.

"If you want a job, you either pursue it or have your agent pursue it, and I didn't do either one," he said. "Donnie called, and I certainly agreed to talk to him. Other teams called my agent to measure the interest level for a basic interview, but it didn't go past that. I had already decided to let next season lead me into something different for the time being."

That almost certainly will be TV work, meaning for either ESPN or TNT as an NBA studio analyst. In a bit of irony, Johnson could replace Rick Carlisle at ESPN after Carlisle replaced him as Mavericks head coach.

Another certainty is Johnson wants to coach again, the same as Carlisle, who took a year off after being fired in Indiana, wore camera makeup for ESPN this past season, and then became the Mavs' immediate choice after Johnson was fired.

ESPN's Mark Stein, who covers the NBA, was not a fan of Johnson's work last season with the Mavericks, but he noted this week, "Avery and Saunders will be the top two guys on everyone's list after next season. Both will be in a perfect position after taking off a year, and in Avery's case, with long-term financial security involved."

The Mavericks keep insisting Carlisle is a "changed man," both in personality and philosophy, after his year off. As with Avery, Carlisle was once known for his hard-headed approach, plus, with Johnson, there is the reputation of being kick-butt with players.

In that regard, there are those of us who believe he "lost" Dirk Nowitzki, although Avery disagrees on that. Whatever, there is also the theory, as Cuban has noted, that Johnson will make necessary adjustments in his second head coaching job. A kinder, gentler Johnson needs to surface, if that's possible.

But an interesting trend surfaced on the hiring of head coaches. Beyond D'Antoni to the Knicks, no one who finished the season as a head coach ended up with a new job. Larry Brown was recycled in Charlotte, and Scott Skiles, fired in December at Chicago, was hired in Milwaukee.

Otherwise, media and fans are screaming in Chicago about the Bulls bringing in Del Negro. "A Cheap, Desperate Leap of Faith," is the way one newspaper headline described it. Even worse: "The Bulls have blown it again."

With Curry moving from assistant to head coach in Detroit, and Porter taking over in Phoenix, it has been described as a case of GMs wanting a cozy relationship. Or, has also been suggested, GMs wanting yes men.

Johnson called Phoenix GM Steve Kerr, "a friend, and former teammate, who came in the locker room the last time we were out there, and talked to me for 30 minutes."

Avery said he communicates "at least once a month" with Detroit GM Joe Dumars. "We share deep Louisiana roots," Johnson said. But ...

"This is a business, and that doesn't mean I was interested or either one were necessarily going to hire me," he said. "I don't take that personally."

Then again, it's also financial. Porter, Curry and Del Negro came cheap, with all in the $2 million a year range.

Even without a basketball job, Avery already has a great one, pay-wise.

Randy Galloway can be heard on Galloway and Co. weekdays 3-6 p.m. on ESPN/103.3 FM.