When Byron Scott learned Thursday that he had been fired as coach of the New Orleans Hornets, there was hardly a sense of shock or dismay.

Scott went golfing in New Orleans. His longtime agent, Brian McInerney, stayed in his Southern California ZIP code, booking a Bayou flight for the next day because this just wasn't traumatic enough to warrant a redeye. After all, they saw this coming months ago.

While the Hornets' 3-6 start gave owner George Shinn the news hook with which to fire the 2007-08 Coach of the Year and replace him with general manager Jeff Bower, the Scott camp had known for some time that he wouldn't return beyond this season. That much was clear over the summer, when his back-channel interest in the then-vacant Kings position said everything about the uncertainty of his situation.

As Scott entered the final year of his contract for which he is owed $5.5 million, the combination of the Hornets' financial outlook (grim) and his relationship with the Shinn family (lukewarm at best) meant he wasn't long for New Orleans.

The directional signs were there for all to see: the Tyson Chandler trade in July that was clearly a money move after the Hornets' disastrous showing in the playoffs; Chicago outbidding the Hornets for their backup point guard, Jannero Pargo, with a one-year, $1.99 million deal. An extension for Scott, it's safe to say, wasn't exactly the next move from there.

Nor was it necessarily what Scott wanted.

There was a short time in which Scott hoped the Kings would come calling and negotiate a buyout of some sort with Shinn that would put him back in the place he and his wife, Anita, enjoyed during his time as a Kings assistant from 1998 to 2000. But the Kings never called, nor did Shinn call them. And without an 11th-hour bailout for Scott and his bosses, the inevitable happened.

"Unless there was some infusion of money, the (coaching change) and what has happened in New Orleans was definitely foreseeable," said McInerney, who has been Scott's agent for 24 years. "But nobody was really ever playing around with the interest in the Kings. That was serious. But I don't know that (Kings basketball president) Geoff Petrie ever saw it that way.

"The odd part was you had an owner (in Shinn) who was saying things (publicly) like, 'I don't know that we want him (Scott).' And you're going, 'OK, so it's would've, could've, should've (with the Kings).'

"But it probably would've worked out. Now (Shinn) still has to pay him for the rest of the year. It was just one of those foreseeable things."

Ultimately, Scott's wariness about the organization's future may have led to Shinn's wariness of him. Before Hurricane Katrina forced the Hornets to move to Oklahoma City in 2005 (they returned in 2007), Scott signed the first of two contracts that reflected the potentially tenuous nature of the situation. He hesitated to sign on long term for fear of the future, and no extension beyond this season was ever discussed.

"With the Oklahoma City extension, we had an option out that the team wanted to be kept very quiet," McInerney said. "He was able to buy himself out. On the second one (the two-year deal), we were trying to be very diplomatic, but they offered four years and it was rejected."

Before signing a two-year extension in 2008, Scott had all the leverage. Having guided the Hornets to a 56-win season and a Western Conference playoff loss to San Antonio, he earned approximately $1 million in bonus money that started accruing when New Orleans hit the 42-win mark. Coincidentally, that was approximately the amount of his buyout clause for the 2008-09 season.

Not surprisingly, a deal was struck that satisfied Scott's desires on the financial and length fronts. But the signing of the two-year deal led to much speculation that Scott was leaving his options open to become Phil Jackson's successor with the Lakers, a notion that McInerney insists wasn't the case.

"Contrary to what the rumor was, it was a coincidence that Phil Jackson's contract was up at the same time," McInerney said. "People like to talk about it, and that's really premature because I don't think Phil Jackson is ever retiring. This was a situation where there was a lot of internal confusion as to what the culture of the team was going to be."

As for what's next for Scott, McInerney said he undoubtedly wants to be a head coach again. But there are no openings at the moment, meaning he'll head for the links, possibly do some ESPN television work and "go see that new movie '2012' in the next few days because he's got nothing else to do." And, of course, he'll wait for the next opportunity. "New Orleans was a terrific vehicle that will take him somewhere," McInerney said. "Let's see: He's 47 (years old), he has coached the Eastern All- Stars (team while with New Jersey), he's coached the Western All-Stars. He has been to the NBA Finals twice (with the Nets). He has won Coach of the Year. ... He'll be fine."

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