NBA Rumors: 5 Coaches Who Could Be Gone Before Season's End

The Sacramento Kings' Paul Westphal was the first casualty of the season, and if this is going to be like most other NBA seasons, several other coaches will be looking for new jobs before the season is over.  Here are five men that could be packing their bags in the next few months, either due to bad records, high expectations or both.

5. Mike Brown, Los Angeles Lakers

Here's a fun fact—the last time a Lakers coach who wasn't Phil Jackson lasted a full season was 1997-98. 

Mike Brown has come into his present job with some of the highest expectations in the history of the league, and whenever anything other than a 20-point Lakers victory occurs, thousands of fans demand his immediate firing. 

Honestly, I think that Mike Brown could be fired if he does anything worse than get to the NBA Finals.

4. Paul Silas, Charlotte Bobcats

Paul Silas is the fourth-losingest current head coach, and has compiled a career record of 380-429.  I know that this is only Silas' second season and first full season with the Cats, but that still makes him more tenured than a quarter of the NBA's coaches. 

Consensus says that Charlotte isn't going anywhere this season, which leads me to believe that Silas is going somewhere that ain't Charlotte by season's end.   

3. Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks

Skiles is a career .500 coach in his third head coaching job.  His first two jobs ended in him being fired midseason, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if this one did too. 

Despite making big offseason moves, Milwaukee is under .500 this season, and could very well miss the playoffs.  But after one first-round loss and two non-playoff seasons, this campaign could very well be Skiles' last.

2. Mike D'Antoni, New York Knicks

The Knicks are under .500 for the season, including an embarrassing home loss to Charlotte.  This after they traded the farm away for Carmelo Anthony and dropped Benjamins to get Amar'e Stoudemire last season and Tyson Chandler this one. 

D'Antoni doesn't have the personnel to run the type of offense he's used to, which has led to the Knicks' woes.  They could turn things around when Baron Davis shows up, but D'Antoni, who is 40 games under .500 with no playoff wins in over three seasons in the Big Apple, might not be around when that happens. 

But let me be clear, D'Antoni is mostly on the list for the same reasons as Brown—because fans' expectations are too lofty. 

1. Flip Saunders, Washington Wizards

As of publication time, the Wiz are 0-6 and not drawing any "ah's!" from the crowd.  With the talent they have, they should have won at least one game by now.

There's already been a players-only meeting and the owner is talking about blowing-up the team.  It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that Flip Saunders could very well be the first to go.  Saunders is 49-121 with the Wizards in two seasons and change, and I'd bet that that change doesn't add up to a dollar in April. 

Heck, I'd go so far as to say they celebrate Presidents' Day in our nation's capital with a coaching change.