Sixers' pool of potential coaches continues to shrink

The pool of prospective coaches that the 76ers looks to hire from continues to be reduced daily following the Sacramento Kings' move to hire former Golden State assistant Mike Malone on Sunday.

Malone replaced Keith Smart in Sacramento. The 41-year-old Malone spent the last two seasons as the top assistant to Mark Jackson.

Malone is the third coach hired that was at one time believed to be high on the Sixers' list. Of course, that was a list that was mostly made up of candidates by Tony DiLeo a little more than a month ago. Since then, DiLeo has been replaced as president of basketball operations and general manager by Sam Hinkie, formerly the assistant general manager of the Houston Rockets. DiLeo is no longer with the organization.

Other coaches that that the Sixers have been reportedly interested in since parting ways with Doug Collins that are no longer available on the market are Mike Brown, (Cleveland),  Mike Budenholzer (Atlanta) and Jeff Hornacek (Phoenix).

The Sixers have also expressed interest in Indiana assistant Brian Shaw. Also believed to be a candidate in some of the other vacancies around the league (such as Brooklyn and the Los Angeles Clippers), the Pacers have not permitted Shaw to interview with prospective teams until the Pacers season is over.

Larry Drew, formerly the coach in Atlanta, expressed interested in coming to work for the Sixers. However, the Sixers never interviewed Drew who last week was hired to coach Milwaukee. Milwaukee also interviewed Sixers associate assistant coach Michael Curry. Curry is still under contract to the Sixers and is expected to begin conducting workouts with prospective draft picks this week.

The Sixers have asked for permission to speak with Houston assistant Kelvin Sampson. They have also been connected to Houston assistant Chris Finch.