The New York Knicks’ offseason begins with an intensive head coaching search after they stunningly fired Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday after five seasons with the organization. Now, they will look for their next coach, who they believe can get them to a championship after coming up short in the Eastern Conference Finals this season.
The Knicks could poach a coach from a different team
There are several different lanes they can take to find a new head coach. They could go for the unemployed ones with plenty of experience, such as Michael Malone or Taylor Jenkins, or even go with a less experienced coach who is younger and can resonate with the players.
Or, they can poach one currently under contract with a different team. According to the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, doing such is a possibility for New York as they commence their coaching search.
NBA: Playoffs-Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors
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“According to multiple sources, Michael Malone, an NBA champion with the Nuggets, is not a candidate. Scratch him off the list. Johnnie Bryant, a Cavaliers assistant with strong connections to the Knicks and Wesley, is a possibility. If the Knicks want to poach a coach from another team, perhaps they might dream of prying loose Jason Kidd from Dallas, Ime Udoka from Houston or Ty Lue from the Clippers,” Bondy wrote.
Taking a head coach currently under contract would require the Knicks to be granted permission by that team to interview that coach. However, given that the team is highly competitive and in a position to win, the possibility of snagging a head coach from another team cannot be ruled out.
The Knicks want a championship-caliber voice as the head coach
The names that Bondy mentioned all have a reputation for getting their team to the biggest stage. Kidd and Udoka each have made the NBA Finals within the last four seasons, and Lue has won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers (he was hired midseason after Cleveland fired David Blatt).
Josh Hart, Tom Thibodeau, Knicks
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Thibodeau helped turn around the culture for the Knicks and established a winning environment. But there was a growing sense that they would never reach the next level with him at the helm, and they felt that a change was needed in order to get them to become championship-caliber talent.
It’ll be an intense search until they find their guy, and it could be someone that nobody is expecting. Leon Rose and the Knicks’ front office have a track record of pressing the right buttons, so the hope is that they land on the right guy for this team to become a title team.