Lakers Coaching Rumors: Sunday

As the Lakers zero in on Phil Jackson to be their next coach, Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reports that the Lakers are only focused on winning titles this season and next, and plan to make payroll cuts thereafter to curb luxury tax penalties. Here's the rest of what we're hearing, from Ding and others.

• Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports that Lakers guard Steve Nash's first two choices for a new coach are Jackson and D'Antoni.
• David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets that D'Antoni is believed to be the Lakers' second choice should they not land Jackson, with Mike Dunleavy third on the list.
• The New York Daily News' Frank Isola believes Jackson's return to the Lakers is inevitable.
• Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the Lakers have not contacted former Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan about the job opening.
• If the Lakers hire Jackson, he would likely make his debut Friday against the Suns, but could possibly coach the team Tuesday versus the Spurs, Ding reports.
• Jackson is expected to give the Lakers an answer about the job on Monday, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. "He's intrigued by the job but not completely sure it's the right thing to do," a source told Broussard.
• Jackson's deal would be for two years, and he would attend a limited number of road games, Broussard reports in the same piece. 
• A representative for one of the top coaches on the market tells Broussard the Lakers would have to be especially accomodating to attract a coach other than Jackson given "the initial storm of disappointment" from fans.
• If hired, Mike D'Antoni wouldn't be available to coach for another 10 days to two weeks because of his knee replacement surgery, according to Broussard's report. The Lakers don't plan on meeting with D'Antoni in person after yesterday's phone interview.
• The Lakers confirmed on their website that Jackson met with executive Jim Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak yesterday, with another meeting scheduled for early next week, writes Greg Beacham of The Associated Press (via the Detroit News).
• Everyone at yesterday's meeting has the belief that Jackson is likely to return, report Howard Beck and Mark Heisler of The New York Times, who add Nate McMillan to the list of coaches the Lakers will interview as backup plans that includes D'Antoni and Mike Dunleavy.
• While we heard yesterday that Jackson would command an annual salary of more than $12MM, Beck and Heisler say it's likely he'll earn a bit less than that.