A surprising New York Knicks rumor has revealed that the team made a little-known sixth attempt at landing an elite coach in a trade this summer, and it was from one of their top rivals.
The Knicks created a real mess for themselves when they decided a 51-31 record and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals wasn’t good enough and fired head coach Tom Thibodeau. However, the coaches they wanted to replace him with were on other teams.
Related: 10 best coaches in the NBA right now
New York reached out to five organizations to speak to their head coaches about the opening and potentially making a trade for them. However, every request was denied, including for Jason Kidd and Ime Udoka. However, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, there are many around the game that believe there was a sixth attempt for a big-time coach that few knew about.
“It has also been whispered that the Knicks likely did some backchannel exploration to determine if there was any pathway to pursue Boston’s Joe Mazzulla,” Stein reports. “There obviously was not … and then the Celtics extended Mazzulla’s contract in August.”
Joe Mazzulla record: 182-64
The extension adds fuel to the rumors because Kidd, Udoka, and Billy Donovan all got extensions from their respective teams after the Knicks allegedly made overtures about being their next head coach. So, it is interesting that Mazzulla randomly got one as well this summer.
After New York failed in their five (maybe six) attempts to make trades for coaches with other teams, they eventually went with former Cavaliers, Lakers, and Kings coach Mike Brown.
Mazzulla took over as head coach of the Celtics before the 2022-23 season after a scandal over an improper relationship with a Boston staff member led to Udoka’s ouster. The team got to the conference finals in his first season, then won an NBA title in 2024.
avatar
After earning his journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos served as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sucka ... More about Jason Burgos