The Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau. The brand new query: Now what?
A franchise “singularly focused on winning a championship” should now decide on its locker room voice and basketball mastermind of the long run.
The issue? The sector hasn’t been extra saturated with choices in a very long time.
4 NBA head coaches had been relieved of their duties midseason. 5 extra up-and-comers could make reputable circumstances to roam the sidelines at Madison Sq. Backyard. And for a Knicks workforce with cash and energy, poaching one other workforce’s head coach may not be off the desk, both.
The Knicks made the choice to fireplace Thibodeau simply three days after their season led to Recreation 6 of the Jap Convention Finals. Now, the clock is ticking because the Leon Rose-led entrance workplace settles on its new head coach.
There are not less than 24 names doubtlessly up for consideration. Right here they’re, in no explicit order:
FIRED THIS SEASON
Taylor Jenkins (Memphis Grizzlies)
Mike Malone (Denver Nuggets)
Mike Brown (Sacramento Kings)
Mike Budenholzer (Phoenix Suns)
If the Knicks are in search of a coach with expertise, there’s a wealth of them out there on the board. Malone coached the Denver Nuggets to the 2023 NBA title and maximized Nikola Jokic’s skillset as a three-time league MVP. Like Thibodeau, he’s an old-school coach who performed with a brief rotation in Denver. Jenkins turned the Memphis Grizzlies right into a Western Convention mainstay and will have reached 50 wins this season had the entrance workplace not fired him with 9 video games left on the schedule. However there have been complaints in Memphis about how he managed his rotations and a scarcity of creativity on the offensive finish. Budenholzer led the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 NBA title however was dealt an imperfect hand in Phoenix and couldn’t maximize the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker rendition of the Suns. And Brown helped deliver a successful tradition again to the Sacramento Kings, however experiences recommend he misplaced the locker room earlier than he was let go after 31 video games this season.
OLD HEAD, OLD TIES, NEW PERSPECTIVE
Jeff Van Gundy (Los Angeles Clippers)
Van Gundy is a detailed pal of the not too long ago launched Thibodeau, so his urge for food for the job is unclear. Equally, the Knicks’ urge for food for an additional journey down reminiscence lane is unsure. Van Gundy was an assistant from 1985-96 and head coach from 1996-2002. The Knicks made an NBA Finals look and a convention finals look below his management.
Van Gundy coached the Houston Rockets from 2003-07. He then loved a profitable broadcasting profession from 2007 to 2023. However in 2024, Van Gundy served as a senior entrance workplace advisor for the Boston Celtics, who went on to win the title. And in 2025, he served as an assistant coach on Tyronn Lue’s Clippers employees, garnering “rave reviews” from his time in each Boston and Los Angeles, in response to an ESPN report.
THE NEW BLOOD
Johnnie Bryant (Cleveland Cavaliers)
Royal Ivey (Houston Rockets)
David Akinyooye (Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder)
Dave Bliss (Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder)
Bryant and Jordan Ott, Kenny Atkinson’s top-two assistants with the Cleveland Cavaliers, had been the finalists to take Budenholzer’s submit as head coach of the Phoenix Suns. The Suns have reportedly made their determination on their coach of the long run and it’s Ott. But it surely’s no shock the Knicks made their determination to half methods with Thibodeau with Bryant and Ott reaching the latter stage of the interview course of elsewhere. Bryant is well-respected amongst NBA gamers and has deep roots on the Backyard having served as an assistant on Thibodeau’s employees from 2020-24. Ott constructed a powerful popularity for creating younger gamers on Atkinson’s Brooklyn Nets employees from 2018-22, then rejoined his employees for 12 months 1 in Cleveland. Whichever of the 2 finally ends up exterior trying into the Phoenix job might be a powerful candidate for the newly out there Knicks job.
There are three different up-and-coming assistants, nevertheless, that might additionally make sturdy circumstances.
Ivey is ending his ninth season as an assistant coach and his second 12 months on Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka’s employees. Ivey was additionally on the Steve Nash-led Nets teaching employees alongside Udoka in 2021. He’s additionally the coach chargeable for resuscitating the South Sudan nationwide basketball workforce, main them to an 11-1 report within the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 African Qualifiers and their first-ever Olympic look within the 2024 Paris Video games.
Mark Daigneault’s high assistants as head coach of the league-best Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder may be on the desk. Bliss and Akinyooye have every assisted Daigneault in constructing a contender in his 5 years in OKC. The Knicks might faucet one among them to recreate the free-flowing offense, staunch protection and deep rotation fueling the Thunder’s title run.
THE COLLEGE CALL-UPS
Jay Wright (Villanova Wildcats)
Dan Hurley (UConn Huskies)
John Calipari (Kentucky Wildcats/Arkansas Razorbacks)
The Jay Wright scripts write themselves. The coach who led Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart to a title at Villanova reunites along with his previous gang to win all of it on the Backyard. Will Rose fulfill the Nova Knicks prophecy? The pope in any case can also be a Villanova graduate.
Or perhaps the basketball gods have one other collegiate call-up in retailer: Dan Hurley, who turned down a profitable supply from the Los Angeles Lakers job to return to UConn and coach the Huskies. Possibly John Calipari lastly throws his hat within the ring after ending his reign at Kentucky and choosing up at Arkansas?
If the Knicks go this route, Wright appears to be the most definitely candidate given his ties to the present roster core, although changing a perennial playoff contending coach (Thibodeau) for a university standout with no professional expertise could be a dangerous proposition in a high-leverage state of affairs.
CAN WE TALK FOR A MINUTE?
Ime Udoka (Houston Rockets)
Tyronn Lue (Los Angeles Clippers)
Brad Stevens (Boston Celtics)
Mitch Johnson (San Antonio Spurs)
Jamahl Mosley (Orlando Magic)
Erik Spoelstra (Miami Warmth)
Simply how far are the Knicks keen to go? Will they soar by the purple tape and attempt to poach one other workforce’s head coach?
The Knicks would first must get permission to contact one other coach or government. If the occasion is , the Knicks would then want to speak compensation, be it monetary or utilizing draft picks (the likes of which the Knicks not have en masse).
If they’ll clear these hurdles — and if the rival workforce is occupied with parting methods with their coach — the Knicks can theoretically pry their dream candidate away from one other franchise.
Udoka instantly involves thoughts, although it’s onerous to see the Houston Rockets transferring on from the person who introduced their franchise again to relevance. Johnson has been a longtime San Antonio Spurs assistant earlier than stepping up for Gregg Popovich, who fell sick. Mosley has a relationship with Brunson, Hart and Bridges and has turned the Orlando Magic into the sort of workforce positive to be feared for years to return. And if Lue had been to ever change into out there from his submit with the Los Angeles Clippers, he might land any job he wished inside seconds. The identical could be mentioned for Spoelstra, although he’s in all probability a Miami Warmth fixture for all times. And who is aware of? What if Stevens needs a second shot at teaching? Stevens is effectively regarded for his basketball IQ and talent to develop younger expertise.
REMAINING COACHING PROSPECTS
Chris Quinn (Miami Warmth)
Sean Sweeney (Dallas Mavericks)
James Borrego (New Orleans Pelicans)
Darvin Ham (Milwaukee Bucks)
Micah Nori (Minnesota Timberwolves)
If not one of the aforementioned names are enticing to the entrance workplace, there are different high quality teaching candidates in the marketplace, although they range in expertise and success. Quinn, for instance, has been on the Warmth teaching employees for a decade. His alternative might come quickly. Sweeney was among the many finalists for the Phoenix job earlier than the entrance workplace narrowed the search all the way down to Bryant and Ott. Borrego confirmed indicators of life in Charlotte (43 wins in 2022) however succumbed to the perpetual dysfunction surrounding the Hornets franchise. Ham is a former Lakers head coach identified for his sturdy participant relationships, and Nori has 16 years of assistant teaching expertise and is thought finest for his cheeky in-game interviews.
AN OUT OF THE BOX CANDIDATE
Rick Brunson (New York Knicks)
Do the Knicks promote Brunson, who was lead assistant on Thibodeau’s employees? Doc Rivers teaching Austin Rivers on the Los Angeles Clippers is the one instance of an NBA head coach main their son. If the Knicks imagine a brand new voice can penetrate the locker room, maybe the voice is one which must be amplified from inside.
Initially Revealed: June 4, 2025 at 2:05 PM EDT
