The offseason isn’t even here, and yet we have coaching news galore! Check out this edition of News and Rumors for a little news and a lot of rumor. JUNE JUBILATION!

Better Late Than Never?

It was never official… Not even back in December when his firing seemed imminent, not even in March when he got into a fight with his VP, but Vinny Del Negro has now officially been fired as head coach of the Bulls. Del Negro has one-year left on his three-year deal and brought the Bulls to the playoffs, but as a disappointing eighth seed. Honestly, I wonder if this is a ploy to get LeBron to come to Chicago. I could never see him going there to play under Del Negro, but now he could even be involved in picking a new coach. Who knows.

As for that fight in March, Bulls VP of basketball operations John Paxson apologized for the fight he had with the now former Bulls coach. Paxson confronted Del Negro after a March 30^th game when the two disagreed about playing time for Joakim Noah. Paxson deserved to be punished for that, seriously. And now it’s Del Negro who finds he way out the door. You know what, good for him (other than the fact that I don’t think he’ll ever coach again).

Interviews Aplenty!

Current TNT announcer and former NBA coach Doug Collins has reportedly interviewed with the 76ers and could be interested in the Hornets head coaching job. Avery Johnson, who last choked as coach of the Mavs, has also interviewed with the Sixers and supposed met with the Hornets today. The Hornets have also interviewed former T’Wolves coach Dwane Casey.

First off, the Sixers need to can GM Ed Stefanski and trade Elton Brand and/or Andre Iguodala, then focus on a coach. But since they need to do something here, they should take Larry Brown away from Charlotte, or settle for Doug Collins. The Hornets never should have got rid of Byron Scott, but they’re a lost cause too. I guess take Avery Johnson. Why AJ? Because Dwane Casey is a HRBL coach. No one should settle for him.

A New Kind of Sixth Man

You don’t see things like this very often – Celtics general manager Danny Ainge was sitting behind the basket in Game 2 of the Cavs/Celtics series in Cleveland, and while JJ Hickson was shooting a free throw in the third quarter Ainge was seen throwing a towel in the air to distract JJ. How AWESOME is that! If it wasn’t against the Cavs, I’d hate him for it, but that’s someone who really cares about his team right there!

Oh, Hickson hit the foul shot anyway.

Tidbits:

• Pat Riley signed an extension with the Miami Heat, as team president, not as a coach. But he isn’t ruling a return to the bench out! He says a big time free agent (w/signing D-Wade) could sway him back. If I’m current Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, I’m citing Stan Van Gundy as precedent here.
• The Thunder have exercised their team option on coach of the year Scott Brooks keeping him in OKC through 2012. I didn’t know who this guy was when he took over in 2008, but he has truly made a name for himself, as has his team.
• The Suns will wear their ‘Los Suns’ jerseys on Cinco de Mayo (May 5 for those of you who aren’t Spanish) during Game 2 in Phoenix. I’m not even going to say this is a political move with the immigration issue going on in Arizona. I’m just going to say that the ‘Los Nets’ t-shirt that I have is better!
• Oh, oh, oh, it’s Magic! The Orlando Magic will host the All-Star Game in 2012 in their new arena to be. It won’t match Cowboys Stadium, but it should be a goody.
• The Cavs practiced a day after their Game 2 loss. For whatever reason, this is news. Then again, it’s news to see Mike Brown try and be a good coach. GOT EM.

-Shooter