Official Knicks Coaching Search Thread

[FrozenEnvelope]

Leon can't win at this point with this hire and we will get trolled and laughed at regardless UNLESS Kidd somehow ends up here which I think is unlikely since he's hired two assistants. So how do you sell hiring Bryant or Brown after all this? I think you could sell someone like Malone and Budenholzer because they come with championship pedigree but everyone else is going to get heavily bashed. I don't think Leon played this right. We shouldn't cry over spilled milk but we should've held on to Thibs and fired him when we had a clear guy or two in mind. Getting rejected left and right and getting laughed at is not a good look.

imagine your employer interviewing people behind your back before you are fired...I'm sure that would go over real well. Like Thibs wouldn't get wind of other potential coaches getting interviewed to replace him?

What coach would interview for the job knowing thibs hasn't been officially fired yet?

Come on man.

You're right.

I just hate how this process is going. We look stupid.

[mpharris36]

Leon can't win at this point with this hire and we will get trolled and laughed at regardless UNLESS Kidd somehow ends up here which I think is unlikely since he's hired two assistants. So how do you sell hiring Bryant or Brown after all this? I think you could sell someone like Malone and Budenholzer because they come with championship pedigree but everyone else is going to get heavily bashed. I don't think Leon played this right. We shouldn't cry over spilled milk but we should've held on to Thibs and fired him when we had a clear guy or two in mind. Getting rejected left and right and getting laughed at is not a good look.

imagine your employer interviewing people behind your back before you are fired...I'm sure that would go over real well. Like Thibs wouldn't get wind of other potential coaches getting interviewed to replace him?

What coach would interview for the job knowing thibs hasn't been officially fired yet?

Come on man.

You're right.

I just hate how this process is going. We look stupid.

Do we? Or is this all media fear mongering. Some people (not specifically you) must think really low of this FO to think they put all there eggs into the we hope some team will just let there good coach walk out the door because we asked nicely for permission. I may not agree with everything Leon Rose and company do but you have to think they are complete dummies if you didn't think they expected this.

Its like a tip of the iceberg situation...media is only reporting on the currently hired coaches because they are getting that information from other teams and not the Knicks specifically.

[KnixinSix]

Kidd can want to come here all he wants but Nico and Dallas have all the power. They can tell Kidd to STFU and coach and honor his contract or simply demand a crazy package of picks from us to terminate his contract. And if Kidd really wanted to leave, why did he hire two assistants this past week?

I guess we will see. I am just not in the it's over boat quite yet as others are.

In summary, while a denied interview request sometimes indicates the current team's unwillingness to let the coach go, it doesn't always completely rule out the possibility of a coach eventually being hired by the requesting team through other means, such as a trade or if the coach becomes available.

[GONYK]

imagine your employer interviewing people behind your back before you are fired...I'm sure that would go over real well. Like Thibs wouldn't get wind of other potential coaches getting interviewed to replace him?

What coach would interview for the job knowing thibs hasn't been officially fired yet?

Come on man.

You're right.

I just hate how this process is going. We look stupid.

Do we? Or is this all media fear mongering. Some people (not specifically you) must think really low of this FO to think they put all there eggs into the we hope some team will just let there good coach walk out the door because we asked nicely for permission. I may not agree with everything Leon Rose and company do but you have to think they are complete dummies if you didn't think they expected this.

Its like a tip of the iceberg situation...media is only reporting on the currently hired coaches because they are getting that information from other teams and not the Knicks specifically.

Also, I don't think cool points gets you anything extta

[Jalen Bluntson]

Yes, Jason Kidd's "ears would perk up" if the New York Knicks expressed interest in him as their next head coach, according to ESPN's Tim MacMahon. MacMahon noted that Kidd has a strong relationship with Jalen Brunson and many people within the Knicks organization, and that he wouldn't dismiss the possibility of Kidd being interested in the job....

Another Scoop here :

Watch on YouTube

And Woj made mention of it as well.....

NYPost reported on it....

https://nypost.com/2025/06/09/sports/knicks-jason-kidd-have-mutual-interest-in-potential-blockbuster/

Point being Kidd has most definitely back channeled interest back. And it's multiple different reporters and media reporting it....

You're posting someone's opinion. This is silly. Everyone does this. They take an opinion and retweet it or rebrand it as fact. Kidd never said anything openly about wanting to come here.

When 4 or 5 reporters with some being fairly reputable are all reporting it.....It has at MINUMUM been back channeled he is interested. Keep that in mind. In any event wait if you still disagree at least wait and and see how this plays out after the finals when the veil finally comes off more since the NBA wants to focus on the in-court stuff right now as much as possible.

With that said I am not saying it WILL 100% be Kidd only that I am very confident he has backchanneled interest and that means they are still very likely in active negotiations behind the scenes right now.

Umm. Ok. That's not publicly crying out to be here. It's speculation and Knicks for clicks. I can believe the back channels may have started this though. Like I said... They may really want Kidd and he is interested so, they are trying to avoid looking like they are tampering by asking other teams along the way. They obviously asked about him. That makes it a plausible possibility.

I don't expect anything to happen until after the finals. Whether it's the Kidd talks becoming a reality or any coaching interviews at all. This whole approach definitely leads me to believe Kidd is the target. Until that gets settled... No serious candidates will be interviewed.

I'm not really crazy about this approach but, there's no other HC vacancy to be filled so, we have no reason to rush. If Kidd is the target, we will push harder after the finals are over and the league needs to keep the coverage going. Knicks for clicks is a gold mine.

[shtolky]

Due diligence costs nothing but time. We have the only coaching opening in the league, there is no rush. I am sure they'll have a coach in place by the draft. What's the harm in asking these teams for permission? That random X user Tony454LOL clowns the Knicks? I'm sure Leon Rose is having sleepless nights over that. The finals features Indy and OKC this year so of course the media is going to pump the Knicks into the news stratosphere. The silliest thing is hearing people say we shouldn't have fired Thibs because we didn't have a candidate already in place. Absolutely illogical and ridiculous. They felt the guy couldn't get the current roster over the hump, that he is a floor raiser and that's it. Fans of the Bulls and T-Wolves said the same thing. Hell, most everyone here agrees with that and were calling for his firing ALL YEAR, so what's the issue?

[Fury]

Due diligence costs nothing but time. We have the only coaching opening in the league, there is no rush. I am sure they'll have a coach in place by the draft. What's the harm in asking these teams for permission? That random X user Tony454LOL clowns the Knicks? I'm sure Leon Rose is having sleepless nights over that. The finals features Indy and OKC this year so of course the media is going to pump the Knicks into the news stratosphere. The silliest thing is hearing people say we shouldn't have fired Thibs because we didn't have a candidate already in place. Absolutely illogical and ridiculous. They felt the guy couldn't get the current roster over the hump, that he is a floor raiser and that's it. Fans of the Bulls and T-Wolves said the same thing. Hell, most everyone here agrees with that and were calling for his firing ALL YEAR, so what's the issue?

Change my name to Tony454LOL, plz

[Polk377]

Due diligence costs nothing but time. We have the only coaching opening in the league, there is no rush. I am sure they'll have a coach in place by the draft. What's the harm in asking these teams for permission? That random X user Tony454LOL clowns the Knicks? I'm sure Leon Rose is having sleepless nights over that. The finals features Indy and OKC this year so of course the media is going to pump the Knicks into the news stratosphere. The silliest thing is hearing people say we shouldn't have fired Thibs because we didn't have a candidate already in place. Absolutely illogical and ridiculous. They felt the guy couldn't get the current roster over the hump, that he is a floor raiser and that's it. Fans of the Bulls and T-Wolves said the same thing. Hell, most everyone here agrees with that and were calling for his firing ALL YEAR, so what's the issue?

Exactly. They said it was going to be an extensive search. Why wouldn't they want to talk to coaches who are still actually coaching? They have nothing to lose by requesting to talk to everyone.

[WaltFrazier]

i don't understand the question. are you asking if a coach on another team will be fired before the season starts ?

I’m saying that if that’s a possibility the Knicks don’t want to miss out on that by making a quick hire.

Let’s say they hire Bryant. And then Lue gets let go a week later. And they didn’t know cause they didn’t ask. Why risk that?

anyone who was going to be fired, has already been fired imo.
Carlise and Mark D aren't going to get fired at this point.

It's unusual there's only one opening right now, but it's because Malone and Jenkins were fired in season and the interims are being kept. And Budenholzer was fired in April because they missed the playoffs, and they just hired a new coach.

The Knicks can take their time because they're the only vacancy, but it's not because there's likely to be a coach fired now

[HEZI]

Knicks can call it whatever they want but it’s easy to see we are desperate. You wouldn’t be doing this if you had confidence in the coaches that are available, there would be no need for it. But when one of your top candidates is Mike Brown then yeah you have to do extra homework.

And they can’t afford to mess up this coaching hire, Thibs set the bar high so we know what expectations will be that’s why they aren’t really looking for a rookie coach and are mainly going after guys who have had success and gone further in the playoffs. Guys who have shown they can work with egos and star players. There is zero room for error with this hire so yeah they better do their homework because they know they can’t screw it up. This isn’t like the Fizdale or Hornscek or even Mike Woodson situation. Expectations are way different. Completely different circumstance. The pressure is turned up to the max and if you don’t believe it is then you are just being naive

[WaltFrazier]

I think Ian was trolling a bit with that one but I'll bite because I'm not a big Kerr guy on multiple fronts

Kerr has basically never shown he can win without Steph. Nor has he shown a consistent ability to ever develop anybody. Almost all of Golden States first round picks have flipped or disappointed in the Kerr era.

He was a disaster in the FIBA world cup where they didn't medal with one of the most talented squads in the tournament and the US struggled in the Olympics but ultimately took the golf against France because Steph went nuclear. Take it for what it's worth.

He runs a very motion/modern triangle based system. Almost no pick and roll. It's very unique and tailored specifically to Steph's abilities.

When it's working well it looks great because it's an extremely fluid read and react brand of basketball. But it's a very hard system for players to adapt to because it takes a ton of off ball movement, IQ and screen setting to fit in. It's why he's had such struggles generating offense when Steph is off the floor in recent years.

It would be interesting experiment to see how this roster would be able to transition into a Kerr type offense. I could see him really unlocking a guy like Hart (a guy he played a ton in FIBA FWIW) for example but the lack of pick and roll and iso ball may be a really tough adjustment for Jalen (A guy who struggled at FIBA under Kerr)

Not disagreeing with your overall assessment but I blame the front office for Kuminga and Moody being not very good picks

Kuminga is a great pick. You see what he does when given the chsnce. Kerr doesn't particularly like him.

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Not sure about his consistency. But he's a free agent right? Might he be a good choice for the athletic back-up forward we need behind OG and Mikal?

[Jeff Van Gully]

Due diligence costs nothing but time. We have the only coaching opening in the league, there is no rush. I am sure they'll have a coach in place by the draft. What's the harm in asking these teams for permission? That random X user Tony454LOL clowns the Knicks? I'm sure Leon Rose is having sleepless nights over that. The finals features Indy and OKC this year so of course the media is going to pump the Knicks into the news stratosphere. The silliest thing is hearing people say we shouldn't have fired Thibs because we didn't have a candidate already in place. Absolutely illogical and ridiculous. They felt the guy couldn't get the current roster over the hump, that he is a floor raiser and that's it. Fans of the Bulls and T-Wolves said the same thing. Hell, most everyone here agrees with that and were calling for his firing ALL YEAR, so what's the issue?

too far. can word disagreement better without characterizing this way.

[Fury]

Knicks can call it whatever they want but it’s easy to see we are desperate. You wouldn’t be doing this if you had confidence in the coaches that are available, there would be no need for it. But when one of your top candidates is Mike Brown then yeah you have to do extra homework.

And they can’t afford to mess up this coaching hire, Thibs set the bar high so we know what expectations will be that’s why they aren’t really looking for a rookie coach and are mainly going after guys who have had success and gone further in the playoffs. Guys who have shown they can work with egos and star players. There is zero room for error with this hire so yeah they better do their homework because they know they can’t screw it up. The pressure is turned up to the max and if you don’t believe it is then you are just being naive

If they didn't have confidence in the coaches that are available, then they wouldn't have fired Thibs. Why are we acting like Thibs walked away? The Knicks made the decision to fire him.

[Jeff Van Gully]

Knicks can call it whatever they want but it’s easy to see we are desperate. You wouldn’t be doing this if you had confidence in the coaches that are available, there would be no need for it. But when one of your top candidates is Mike Brown then yeah you have to do extra homework.

And they can’t afford to mess up this coaching hire, Thibs set the bar high so we know what expectations will be that’s why they aren’t really looking for a rookie coach and are mainly going after guys who have had success and gone further in the playoffs. Guys who have shown they can work with egos and star players. There is zero room for error with this hire so yeah they better do their homework because they know they can’t screw it up. The pressure is turned up to the max and if you don’t believe it is then you are just being naive

If they didn't have confidence in the coaches that are available, then they wouldn't have fired Thibs. Why are we acting like Thibs walked away? The Knicks made the decision to fire him.

that, and/or thibs may have crossed the rubicon with behavior/decisions/strategy. sometimes you have to let someone go regardless of the replacement landscape.

[KnixinSix]

Knicks can call it whatever they want but it’s easy to see we are desperate. You wouldn’t be doing this if you had confidence in the coaches that are available, there would be no need for it. But when one of your top candidates is Mike Brown then yeah you have to do extra homework.

And they can’t afford to mess up this coaching hire, Thibs set the bar high so we know what expectations will be that’s why they aren’t really looking for a rookie coach and are mainly going after guys who have had success and gone further in the playoffs. Guys who have shown they can work with egos and star players. There is zero room for error with this hire so yeah they better do their homework because they know they can’t screw it up. The pressure is turned up to the max and if you don’t believe it is then you are just being naive

I get that Mike Brown may feel kinda in the retread category but he does have an almost .600 winning percentage in the NBA. His teams are genrally good . How much of that was the LeBron effect, sure that can be argued I guess. Which is why we should aim a bit higher. But I would think he would be better than Thibs overall.

[3toheadmelo]

Read on Twitter

Kidd I understand because of his pre-existing relationship with Brunson and the Knicks

Some of these other choices seem pretty out of left field though, especially Snyder and Donovan

so sham was right. these are the knicks top choices. it's not a smoke screen or misdirection or whatever. that's all i wanted you guys to admit. jesus.

Exactly

[3toheadmelo]

Knicks can call it whatever they want but it’s easy to see we are desperate. You wouldn’t be doing this if you had confidence in the coaches that are available, there would be no need for it. But when one of your top candidates is Mike Brown then yeah you have to do extra homework.

And they can’t afford to mess up this coaching hire, Thibs set the bar high so we know what expectations will be that’s why they aren’t really looking for a rookie coach and are mainly going after guys who have had success and gone further in the playoffs. Guys who have shown they can work with egos and star players. There is zero room for error with this hire so yeah they better do their homework because they know they can’t screw it up. This isn’t like the Fizdale or Hornscek or even Mike Woodson situation. Expectations are way different. Completely different circumstance. The pressure is turned up to the max and if you don’t believe it is then you are just being naive

This guy gets it

[Jeff Van Gully]

Read on Twitter

Kidd I understand because of his pre-existing relationship with Brunson and the Knicks

Some of these other choices seem pretty out of left field though, especially Snyder and Donovan

so sham was right. these are the knicks top choices. it's not a smoke screen or misdirection or whatever. that's all i wanted you guys to admit. jesus.

Exactly

@sham- yeah, but didn't you start all that by saying kidd was the top choice from onset and then have to acknowledge he may not have been the first call?

[HEZI]

Knicks can call it whatever they want but it’s easy to see we are desperate. You wouldn’t be doing this if you had confidence in the coaches that are available, there would be no need for it. But when one of your top candidates is Mike Brown then yeah you have to do extra homework.

And they can’t afford to mess up this coaching hire, Thibs set the bar high so we know what expectations will be that’s why they aren’t really looking for a rookie coach and are mainly going after guys who have had success and gone further in the playoffs. Guys who have shown they can work with egos and star players. There is zero room for error with this hire so yeah they better do their homework because they know they can’t screw it up. The pressure is turned up to the max and if you don’t believe it is then you are just being naive

If they didn't have confidence in the coaches that are available, then they wouldn't have fired Thibs. Why are we acting like Thibs walked away? The Knicks made the decision to fire him.

The pressure was on to fire him because the players complained to the owner who basically had the final say in the matter. Regardless of why they had to move on from him, the fact that they had to doesn’t mean they are confident in finding his replacement. This whole search displays a lack of confidence. They are calling teams expecting to get rejected That’s called being desperate

[Fury]

Knicks can call it whatever they want but it’s easy to see we are desperate. You wouldn’t be doing this if you had confidence in the coaches that are available, there would be no need for it. But when one of your top candidates is Mike Brown then yeah you have to do extra homework.

And they can’t afford to mess up this coaching hire, Thibs set the bar high so we know what expectations will be that’s why they aren’t really looking for a rookie coach and are mainly going after guys who have had success and gone further in the playoffs. Guys who have shown they can work with egos and star players. There is zero room for error with this hire so yeah they better do their homework because they know they can’t screw it up. The pressure is turned up to the max and if you don’t believe it is then you are just being naive

If they didn't have confidence in the coaches that are available, then they wouldn't have fired Thibs. Why are we acting like Thibs walked away? The Knicks made the decision to fire him.

The pressure was on to fire him because the players complained to the owner who basically had the final say in the matter. Regardless of why they had to move on from him, the fact that they had to doesn’t mean they are confident in finding his replacement. This whole search displays a lack of confidence. They are calling teams expecting to get rejected That’s called being desperate

If they weren't confident in finding his replacement, they wouldn't have fired him. If they're calling teams expecting to get rejected, that means they have an idea of who they'd want that isn't currently on a team. Unless you think they're going into the season without a head coach.