Knicks Reportedly Denied Ime Udoka, Chris Finch HC Interviews amid Jason Kidd Rumors

The New York Knicks reportedly reached out to the Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves for permission to speak with head coaches Ime Udoka and Chris Finch, respectively, but were denied by both teams.

SNY's Ian Begley reported on the Rockets rumor, and former New York sports radio host/current BetRivers podcast host Mike Francesa reported on the Timberwolves rumor.

Shams Charania of ESPN provided more information:

That news comes amid a rumor that there is "mutual" interest between Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd and the New York Knicks, per Peter Botte of the New York Post.

New York is in the market for a new head coach after parting ways with Tom Thibodeau after five seasons.

New York just had its best season in a quarter-century, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. The Knicks won 51 games and were two wins away from making the NBA Finals but fell short to the Indiana Pacers.

Despite that success, the Knicks parted ways with Thibodeau, who had led New York to the playoffs in four of his five seasons. To put that in context, the Knicks had only made the postseason four times from 2001-02 to 2019-20, the year before Thibodeau's arrival.

However, New York is now in the market for a new coach.

Kidd seems to be the clubhouse leader as far as interest goes, but there are some issues, as James L. Edwards III of The Athletic noted.

"The Knicks have interest in Jason Kidd, per league sources. The problem? Kidd, the coach of the Dallas Mavericks, has two years left on his contract. The Knicks, while they might be preparing to ask for permission to interview Kidd for their vacancy, have not yet made a formal request.

"There has yet to be any contact as of Monday morning, per a Mavericks team source. And yet, when that time comes, per multiple league sources, the expectation is that the Mavericks will deny that request."

So at this juncture, it doesn't appear that the Knicks have a real replacement answer or true lead candidate to actually take the job right now, especially with the Rockets and Timberwolves denying New York the opportunity to talk to their coaches.