With Flip Saunders available, speculation has arisen that the Cavs ousted Paul Silas to get a step up on hiring the Cleveland native. Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

Paul Silas' surprise firing Monday raises several questions: Did LeBron James give his approval? Is Flip Saunders waiting in the wings? Will this spark the Cavs out of their recent slump?

These issues will be sorted out in coming days, but one thing is clear: new Cavs owner Dan Gilbert isn't afraid to take chances. With his team having lost nine of 12, and nine straight on the road, the Quicken Loans founder decided to act quickly now rather than risk seeing the Cavs slide into the No. 7 or No. 8 spot (and a likely first-round ouster) or out of the playoff race altogether. Apparently he and GM Jim Paxson decided they just couldn't afford to wait any longer for Silas to get the team back on track.

The big issue, of course, is how Silas' firing will sit with LeBron. The 20-year-old superstar has publicly supported Silas all along, calling him the perfect coach. Lately, however, there have been rumblings that James wasn't entirely pleased with the direction the team was headed. Whether true or not, it is hard to believe the Cavs would make this move without first consulting the King.

Although assistant Brendan Malone takes over on an interim basis, Saunders already has emerged as the favorite to take over the team. Saunders is a Cleveland native and he has experience working with a high school star-turned-pro in Kevin Garnett. It's possible the Cavs decided to make this move now so they could get to Saunders before the end of the season when there might be more competition for his services.

As for Silas, he won't be out of work too long. While he has been involved in some strange incidents this season -- he had a public feud with Eric Snow earlier this season, used an ugly curse word to describe Carlos Boozer (for which he later apologized) last week, and benched Jeff McInnis Sunday afternoon in a loss to the Raptors -- he has a pretty good track record from his Hornets and Cavs days overall. With the never-ending NBA job carousel spinning madly once again, Silas is sure to find his name in the mix in places like New York, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Portland and Orlando.