The way it's been talked about so far, it's almost as if the Sixers' search for a new head coach exists in a vacuum.
Brian Shaw and Mike Brown are at the top of the Sixers' list.
The Sixers are really high on Shaw and Mike Malone.
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The Sixers have officially reached out to Shaw.
The Sixers will interview Malone and Jeff Hornacek.
But the Sixers aren't the only team looking for a new coach.
At current, the Nets, Bucks, Pistons and Bobcats are also looking for replacements for P.J. Carlesimo (via Avery Johnson), Jim Boylan, Lawrence Frank and Mike Dunlap.
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It looks as if Larry Drew and his staff are also about to be kicked out of Atlanta.
Don't discredit the remaining possibility of future openings in Los Angeles, should the Lakers go all-in on Dwight Howard or the Clippers opt to cut ties with Vinny Del Negro.
Point is: although the Sixers may be interested in candidates X, Y and Z, they are not alone in their interest.
Take a look at what happened with Brown. No sooner was he mentioned as a candidate for the Sixers than he re-signed in Cleveland. Shaw has already in his career interviewed for nine different head coaching vacancies, but remains an attractive and available assistant because none of those were the right "fit."
The NBA world the Sixers currently inhabit is one in which their open head coaching gig is not exactly desirable. It's the reason they likely won't attract top-tier candidates and the reason still others may be gun-shy about taking the job based on the possibility that failure could preclude them from coaching again.
Of the current openings, the Sixers' job is certainly better than the one in Charlotte, but that's about it. Even Detroit just landed Phil Jackson as some kind of consultant, suggesting they maybe have a direction to sell.
But the Sixers — as currently constituted, presumably without Andrew Bynum — are going nowhere, making this an opening where a coach will be hired to get fired (or in Doug's case, resign).
So if you really want a head coaching job right now, come to Philadelphia. Otherwise, there are other openings available. There will be yet even more in the future.