He was on WEEI's D&C earlier today... and he says Doc is probably gone.
“I’ve talked to a few coaching friends of Doc in the last 72 hours, and every one of them, the consensus is that he’s probably going to walk away,” Mannix said. “For all the reasons that he enumerated, there’s nothing remotely surprising about it. They feel like it’s time, they feel like it makes sense. He’s taken the team or the team has gone as a current group as far as they possibly can go and now is a great situation to leave.”
Then he drops this bomb on us:
I think Vinny Del Negro is a name we’re going to hear a lot of. He’s got a good relationship with Danny and kind of has that head coaching experience that Danny’s looking for. I don’t think that Vinny is as personable as Doc, I don’t think he relates to players as Doc. … I think if the interview process gets drawn out, I think a guy like Sam Mitchell’s name is going to pop up on the radar. Sam, remember, is a former Coach of the Year in Toronto. A bit of an abrasive coach at times, didn’t always play well with others, if you will, but he does have a good reputation as far as getting the most out of players. One thing not to forget, Sam Mitchell has maybe the best relationship with Kevin Garnett of anybody in the NBA. … So I think that’s a distinct possibility as a coaching candidate down the road.
Shoot me. Shoot me now.
Doc... PLEAAAAAAAAASSSSSEEEEE come back. I'm beggin. Look at me, I'm on my knees here. Don't give us these guys.
In other notes, he says he doesn't see Danny Ainge or Paul Pierce leaving town.
And then another BOMB from Mannix on Ray Allen
He’s going to be looking for an astronomical deal when he comes out of this thing. … I’ll throw a number at you guys and it’s going to sound ludicrous, but it’s what a GM told me right before the start of the finals, that Ray Allen was going to start by asking for a five-year, $75 million deal. How ridiculous does that sound? … I think it’s going to have to start at $10 million per year over three years. I think that’s the bare minimum that you’re going to have to pay to keep Ray Allen.
3 years, $30 mil. is a bit much, but still on the high end of palatable. 5 years $75 is out of the question. I'm sorry... if Ray's looking for that kind of cash, then he can keep on looking.
