Mike Brown, Knicks Reportedly Finalizing Contract as HC to Replace Tom Thibodeau

The New York Knicks are hiring veteran coach Mike Brown to replace Tom Thibodeau following his sudden ouster after the Eastern Conference Finals, according to ESPN's Shams Charania.

NBA insider Chris Haynes reported that the Knicks made an official offer to Brown and "both sides are working expeditiously on finalizing terms of the deal."

According to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, the Knicks hope to hire James Borrego as Brown's top assistant. However, the New Orleans Pelicans reportedly prefer to keep Borrego as part of Willie Green's staff.

Brown is a two-time Coach of the Year winner with a .599 career winning percentage at stops with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings.

At Sacramento, he delivered the franchise its first playoff trip since 2006. The good times didn't last very long as the Kings fired him midway through this past season following a 13-18 start.

For as much success he has had in the NBA, hiring an experienced coach with one NBA Finals appearance on his résumé will likely lead a lot of fans to ask whether this is an upgrade.

Knicks president Leon Rose pretty much laid out the expectations for Brown in his statement after firing Thibodeau. He said the franchise "is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans."

Charania reported Thibodeau's exacting standards and tendency to lean heavily on his starters likely played a role as well:

For some fans, New York's issues went beyond coaching, though.

Karl-Anthony Towns is one of the best shooting big men of all time, and he was undoubtedly an upgrade in the frontcourt over Julius Randle. But it's no secret the five-time All-Star struggles as a defender, and nobody was surprised when he got targeted so much in the playoffs.

The Athletic's James L. Edwards III and Fred Katz offered a tough but fair assessment of how KAT and Jalen Brunson combined in their first season together.

"On bad nights, the two All-Stars, Brunson and Towns, exacerbated each other's worst defensive traits and didn't enhance each other enough on offense, regressing as a duo during the second half of the season and into the playoffs," Edwards and Katz wrote. "That was highlighted in the Eastern Conference finals, when Brunson assisted on just five Towns baskets. The Pacers, especially, targeted Brunson and Towns throughout the series, bringing whomever those two were manning into actions and attacking from there."

And for all of the complaints about Thibodeau's rotations, the trades for Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby meant sacrificing a lot of depth. Smaller deals such as sending Quentin Grimes to the Detroit Pistons for Bojan Bogdanović and Obi Toppin's move to the Indiana Pacers look worse in retrospect, too.

Maybe a different head coach will go a long way for the Knicks. Sometimes, a new voice in the locker room and a few marginal tactical changes are all you need.

Still, this roster had some potential flaws from the moment Rose made his blockbuster deals for Bridges and Towns, namely the defense and lack of a bench behind the top stars.

Rose's aggressive move also felt a little like too much too soon. Anunoby had only made 32 combined appearances with the Knicks before two more notable pieces were added to the mix.

"In comparison to last year's team, which brought juice back to the franchise after narrowly missing out on the Eastern Conference finals, the synergy within this year’s group wasn’t as strong," Edwards and Katz wrote in their report.

Hiring a new head coach was only the first step in Rose's offseason checklist. Now, he and the front office will have to think long and hard about whether the Knicks just need some fine-tuning or require something as drastic as trading Towns, Bridges or Anunoby.

As much as New York City rejoiced after the Knicks knocked the Boston Celtics out in the second round, the exit at the hands of the Pacers brought everyone back down to earth. This is shaping up to be one of the most pivotal summers for the organization in a long time.