Now that Isiah Thomas has secured that his job will come into question again in Indiana, the rumors and realities of coaching vacancies turn their ugly heads toward other unsuspecting -- and suspecting -- candidates.

When this summer begins, there could be as many as -- gasp! -- nine coaches out of jobs, depending on different variables in separate cities. What that also means, of course, is that there could be nine new coaches in place, and with a dearth of coaches available, we could be seeing an unprecedented phase in the NBA where unproven coaches -- like Eric Musselman and Jeff Bzdelik were -- get the opportunity to prove their worth.

We'll start, for interest's sake, with the jobs of those coaches who could lose their jobs, but have not yet been given a clear indication.

The replacements?

And so, with so many openings possible, we turn our attention to who is -- or will be -- available. And only three names really surface: Paul Silas, Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Fratello. There are rumors that Silas could end up in Toronto, but if he does not, he could go to an already established vacancy: Charlotte, which begins play in two seasons. Van Gundy's name has been linked with the Clippers, but Sterling never has wanted to pay the type of salary that Van Gundy likely would command. And Fratello's name hasn't really surfaced anywhere, but he remains a candidate just because he can coach. Other retreads -- that is NOT a negative connotation -- include Randy Wittman, Jim Cleamons and Lucas. Eddie Jordan, an assistant in New Jersey, is a hot name, and he is likely to get a job somewhere. An interesting question is whether anybody would be willing to hire P.J. Carlesimo, who certainly has the credentials, but also the battle scars. Cleamons, Phil Jackson's long-time assistant, is another possibility. And, more than likely, you will see assistants like Seattle's Dwane Casey and Toronto's Craig Neal given opportunities, based on the successes of Musselman and Bzdelik. If anything, those two have shown that you don't have to hire proven commodities to find a good coach. You simply need to have confidence that you have found the right person.

Rudy Tomjanovich
It seemed startling to me when I first heard that Tomjanovich could be fired, in part because other than Jerry Sloan -- whom we'll get to later -- I have always considered Tomjanovich an NBA institution, beloved by all. However, when your team becomes the first since the 1978 Boston Celtics and only the sixth team in NBA history to have two All-Stars starters -- Steve Francis and Yao Ming -- and not make the playoffs, well, it raises speculation.

That the All-Star starter stuff may be more of a commentary on the overall knowledge of All-Star Game voters is undeniable. Bbut that Rudy T does not seem willing or able to rein in the backcourt exploits of Francis and especially Cuttino Mobley, who appeared to ignore Yao in the end and shoot as freely and unapologetically as two fellas named Odai and Qusay, is a problem that cannot be ignored for much longer.

At the end of the season, Rockets owner Les Alexander, who once said this team was "one of the greatest ever assembled," declined to endorse Tomjanovich, saying, "I'm going into this thinking my primary goal is to have a stable franchise. To have stability means having people working with you awhile. We'll leave it at that."

Told he was not exactly imbuing Tomjanovich with confidence and support, Alexander said: "Well leave it at that."

It would be difficult, at least publicly, for Alexander to fire Tomjanovich, in part because Rudy is recovering from bladder cancer and in part because Tomjanovich still is owed $12 million. But clearly, something is amiss in Houston, and if the coaching staff is not changed, then the coaching staff's coaching style is going to have to change.

Jerry Sloan
Sloan is not going to be fired in Utah, but there has been recent speculation that he may resign.

Insiders say he has been extraordinarily tense this season -- part of the reason he exploded on official Courtney Kirkland, leading to a seven-game suspension. Sloan denies that he is about to quit, but you have to wonder if both John Stockton and Karl Malone are gone -- a distinct possibility now that the Jazz have been knocked out of the playoffs by the Sacramento Kings -- does Sloan really want to hang around to coach a bunch of DeShawn Stevensons and their increasingly virulent attitudes.

Doug Collins
We didn't think there was a problem in Washington -- until the Wizards' last home game of the season.

It was then that Collins revealed an unexpected rift -- or, for some who know him, an expected rift -- between himself and his players.

Those close to Collins say he has a grating personality that sometimes goes over the top, and even he admitted to overt "ball-busting." The question, of course, is why did he wait until the last game of the season, Michael Jordan's sendoff, to announce that he had immature, disrespectful players?

"If someone is talking back to him, he should correct it at the time," Charles Oakley said. "If you have a flat tire, you don't keep driving down the highway. You pull over and try to fix it."

The bottom line seems to be this: If Jordan is back as president of basketball operations, Collins is likely to return. But if Jordan goes to, say, Charlotte, Collins is history, in large part because Jordan is one of the only people in the organization supporting him.

George Karl
So what is going to happen to Karl in Milwaukee?

First, Karl helps create chasms between his three best players; then he trades away two of the three, and it appears as if he is only going to get Desmond Mason in return for Olympian Ray Allen. Then Karl has a difference of opinion with Tim Thomas, then the Bucks barely make the playoffs this season, and then, in the latest incident, Karl blows up on national television about the officiating in Game 3 of their first-round series loss to New Jersey, looking like a whiner.

Granted, the officiating has been horrid in the playoffs thus far. (And this is only the first round. How many more phantom calls are the Los Angeles Lakers going to get before somebody launches an investigation?) In any case, Karl's coaching woes are playing against the backdrop of Bucks owner Herb Kohl trying to sell the team -- and that ultimately could be the determining factor in whether Karl is back for the final year of his contract.

If new ownership takes over, it, in all likelihood, would want to get a fresh beginning, which would involve removing the corrosive element that currently pervades the organization.

Paul Silas
And in New Orleans, Silas likely is gone because of the Hornets' unwillingness to pay him on the current level of coaching salaries.

Silas this season became the Hornets' all-time winningest coach (208-155), and he is a great guy. But George Shinn and Ray Wooldridge continue their bumbling, offensive tactics for running a franchise, which led Silas to say, suggestively: "It should be an interesting offseason."

Lenny Wilkens
In Toronto, Wilkens, the winningest and losingest coach of all time, already has been fired. Wilkens blamed injuries on Toronto's 24-win season, but some of the injuries (read: Vince Carter's) are being pinned on Wilkens' inability to motivate his best player.

If Wilkens would have cracked down on Carter more, the thinking goes, the player would have rehabbed more intently and the possibilities of avoiding injury would have been increased. As it was, Wilkens was 113-133 in three seasons, and that cannot all be blamed on injuries.

Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald said he is scouring the earth to find the right replacement, and if that takes infinitely longer than it took Kiki Vandeweghe to hire Jeff Bzdelik -- which turned out to be a good hire, by the way -- then so be it. Two names that already have surfaced, however, are Philadelphia assistant Mike Woodson and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo -- though that whole college-coach-jumping-to-the-NBA thing has proved to be an unmitigated failure.

Dennis Johnson
The coaching merry-go-round in Los Angeles is going to continue when Donald Sterling can find the time to fire Johnson, who replaced Alvin Gentry, who replaced, well, an entire legion of coaches who have subsequently gone to court in an attempt to garner the wages that The Donald failed to pay them.

Terry Stotts
One of the more interesting decisions will be what happens in Atlanta, where Stotts -- a former Karl assistant -- actually had the Hawks playing well at the end of the season. Atlanta finished the disappointing trek by winning four out of five and six of eight -- though the Hawks still were forced to pay back more than $500,000 to season-ticket holders for failing to make the playoffs.

Like Karl, Stotts' fate could be determined by who owns the team -- though it seems unlikely he will be back, regardless. The Hawks already have fired GM Pete Babcock, and as we all eventually saw with Jerry West, GMs tend to want their own men in the position.

Keith Smart
A not-so-difficult decision is coming in Cleveland, where Smart replaced John Lucas and was only marginally better (9-31) than Luke (8-34).

Once Smart took over, the Cavaliers failed to win a single road game, a streak of 16 losses in a row, and Smart never was able to contain Ricky Davis, who embarrassed not only himself but the entire organization in Triple-DoubleGate.

Frank Hughes, who covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.