Warriors, Van Gundy Talks Stall; Kerr Back In Mix

4:37pm: A source tells Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com that it would be shocking if Kerr wound up turning down the Knicks, and the reason they haven’t reached an agreement yet is because Kerr and team president Phil Jackson are otherwise occupied. Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com passes along the details (all Twitter links).

1:44pm: The Warriors are heading to Oklahoma City today to meet with Kerr, in town to broadcast tonight’s game for TNT, and make another push to hire him as coach, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link)

1:34pm: Kerr is still more likely to take the Knicks job than to end up in Golden State, even as the Warriors maintain hope that they can sway him, Stein tweets.

12:57pm: Golden State is prepared to pay market rate or higher for Kerr or any of the team’s coaching targets, according to Kawakami (Twitter links).

12:46pm: The Warriors plan another aggressive push at Kerr if Van Gundy takes the Pistons job, Wojnarowski tweets. Kerr and the Knicks are hung up in negotiations over the length of his would-be deal to coach New York, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. Kerr is seeking a five-year deal, while the Knicks only want to give him four.

12:04pm: Kawakami suggests the Warriors and Van Gundy are no longer talking, and that it doesn’t sound as if they’ll restart the conversation (Twitter link). The report is in the wake of a report of the Pistons’ interest in Van Gundy for a dual coach/executive role. The Warriors were unwilling to fulfill Van Gundy’s request of total control over basketball decisions, as Kawakami noted.

11:28am: The Warriors aren’t on the verge of hiring Van Gundy or anyone else, reports Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. The team is indeed high on Van Gundy, but it appears the Warriors aren’t finished with their search, Kawakami adds, pointing to Golden State’s last coaching search, in which there were premature reports about leading candidates (All four Twitter links). The news would appear to indicate that the team’s interview with Hollins is still on for Thursday, though that’s just my speculation.

9:02am: The Warriors have come to regard Stan Van Gundy as the clear-cut top choice for their head coaching position, and talks are intensifying as they progress toward a deal, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. Marc Stein of ESPN.com and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported early Monday that Golden State was zeroing in on Van Gundy, and it appears the sides are moving swiftly as the chances of Steve Kerr ending up in Golden State continue to fade.

Van Gundy drew support from several in the organization soon after the Warriors fired Mark Jackson, and Warriors players, many of whom were strong supporters of Jackson, appeared to be among the first ones in Van Gundy’s corner. The front office and co-owner Joe Lacob eventually shifted their support from Kerr to Van Gundy, too. The Warriors reached out to Van Gundy last week as the team eyed an experienced coach to help foster its continued growth toward title contention.

Van Gundy, who in March deemed himself highly unlikely to return to the bench next season, downplayed his interest last week. The former Heat and Magic coach nonetheless acknowledged his connection to the Warriors, whom he’d grown up rooting for as a child in Northern California.

Golden State reportedly has an interview scheduled with Lionel Hollins on Thursday, but it’s unclear whether that remains on the agenda. Others  linked to the job include Jerry Sloan, David Fizdale, George Karl, Mike D’Antoni, Nate McMillan, Kevin Ollie, Alvin Gentry, Fred Hoiberg, Tom Thibodeau. Van Gundy, Kerr, Hoiberg and Ollie appeared to be in the upper echelon among those candidates.