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John Beilein to the NBA? The league has interest, says Woj

Could Michigan's head coach bolt for the NBA? Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski says unnamed league execs are intrigued.

Andy Lyons

John Beilein to the NBA? The idea sounds preposterous to me, but I'm probably biased. As a Michigan grad who's enjoyed watching how Beilein has returned the Wolverines to national prominence, I like to envision him as a potential Michigan lifer, a head coach who's reached the final destination in his career much like Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. In a 2012 interview, he literally said "there is no other" job that he'd like to pursue after Michigan.

"There is no other one," he said. "There is no other one. It's been a great journey so far to have been a bit of a nomadic coach and change (jobs) several times. But there is a time when you say, 'OK, I really want to stay with this one and make the most of it.' "

(If I weren't biased, I might include Tom Izzo at Michigan State in my list of lifers, but considering how tempted Izzo was to take the Cleveland Cavaliers job in 2010 until he couldn't get assurances that LeBron James was returning, I imagine he'd  jump ship for the right opportunity -- even if that's just wishful thinking.)

But after today's Woj Bomb™, what if I'm wrong? Could Beilein leave the comforts of the Crisler Center for a high-paying NBA job? Beilein signed a three-year extension with Michigan last summer that pays him $2.45 million through 2019, which at the time made him the fourth-highest paid coach in the Big Ten (behind Izzo, Ohio State's Thad Matta and Indiana's Tom Crean). That's a chunk of change, but it's not quite NBA money

In any case, here's a roundup of reactions from some smart people in my timeline (and some other folks) to Adrian Wojnarowski's tweet:

First, the surprise:

A former player hints it'd work:

... But then admits it's not likely:

Others suggest he'd be successful:

While other folks simply can't wrap their heads around it:

Now your thoughts. Do you think Beilein might jump at a job offer? And should the Pistons be interested?