Celtics Should Borrow Knicks’ List Of Coaches

The Boston Celtics’ list of candidates to fill their coaching vacancy includes Dave Cowens, Don Chaney and Mike Jarvis. There is also a chance M.L. Carr, director of basketball operations, will put himself on the bench. Hooooo, doggy.

The New York Knicks’ list of candidates to fill their coaching vacancy reads: Chuck Daly, Mike Fratello, Phil Jackson, Don Nelson, Rick Pitino and Lenny Wilkens. Granted, this list is highly speculative because it was only Thursday that Pat Riley resigned in a snit.

Anyway, those are the names being bandied about in New York. Forget, temporarily, that four of the six are under contract with other teams. Compare them to the list of candidates in Boston. What jumps out?

One set of candidates can coach.

The Celtics have some problems.

A year ago, Cowens was running the New England Sports Museum, which is located in a mall in Cambridge, Mass. He’s a good man, but how did he suddenly become a prime contender for one of the three jobs available in the highest echelon of the sport? Bob Hill, for whom Cowens worked as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs last season, must have passed along all his genius.

Maybe Chaney is the perfect hire. He’s another good man. Maybe he can win a few games, lose his players and set up his successor. He has done that before. Didn’t the Houston Rockets find the road to the Finals almost as soon as Chaney found the road out of Houston in 1992?

Chaney landed in Detroit, where the Pistons were rebuilding. Guard Joe Dumars, a beautiful human, had a hard time playing for Chaney. Does anyone want to guess where Doug Collins, Chaney’s successor in Detroit, is going to take the Pistons?

Jarvis, the George Washington University coach, is being considered for three reasons: 1. He’s from Boston. 2. He recruited Yinka Dare. 3. Red Auerbach is a GW alum as well as a Washington resident, and it was Red who put Jarvis on a train to Carr’s office.

If Carr hires himself … Hoooo, doggy.

There is a vague but persistent feeling that Carr may choose none of the above, that he has a mystery candidate at his disposal somehow.

It could be Don Casey, the former Los Angeles Clippers coach who served five years under Chris Ford, whom the Celtics fired after the season. Or it could be someone else.

Casey, a renowned X’s and O’s man, seems a better choice than anyone else on Carr’s list. The problem is, Carr has left Casey in limbo. As of a few days ago, Carr had yet to grant Casey a formal interview. Carr says Casey “is being considered” - but he has yet to tell Casey. Meanwhile, Casey has an offer to assist Collins, who, remember, will be in the Finals soon enough.

It’s just as weird in New York, where Riley departed stealthily.

Don’t expect Riley to be coming to Boston. He craves established superstars who will lick his wingtips. He needs an even bigger market and, above all else, he wants a chunk of any team that chooses to roll over for him.

Of all the potential successors being batted around in New York, one has to love Daly.

Mike Fratello’s locked up with Cleveland, as is Wilkens with Atlanta. Jackson has a year left on his contract with Chicago. Those are three in-conference teams that would demand huge compensation.

That leaves Nellie, who had problems with his players at Golden State. And Daly, who insists he likes his job at TNT. But Daly, 64, is a child of the Depression who found fame late in life, which is to say he loves money. Throw $2 million to $3 million at him, and he’s there.