Knicks Reportedly Haven't Tried to Interview Kerr, Redick, More amid Denial Rumors
The New York Knicks may have dramatically overestimated their ability to upgrade at head coach after firing Tom Thibodeau following their loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
According to The Athletic's Sam Amick, the list of currently-employed coaches the Knicks haven't requested permission to speak with includes Steve Kerr, JJ Redick, Doc Rivers and Ty Lue.
The coaches New York has tried to speak with but have been denied permission to interview include Jason Kidd, Ime Udoka, Chris Finch, Billy Donovan, and Quin Snyder.
Two premier names in the college sphere, Dan Hurley and Jay Wright, have preemptively shot down any attempt to connect them to the Knicks job.
This was always the problem New York's front office was going to have when the decision was made to fire Thibodeau. All of the top candidates who had been rumored for the job were already employed, meaning the Knicks were at the mercy of other teams to essentially do them a solid.
Thibodeau seemed to help his status in the playoffs by leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000. In the aftermath of their loss to the Pacers, though, things were apparently more chaotic behind the scenes this season than anyone let on.
Per Yahoo Sports' Vincent Goodwill, some players didn't like Thibodeau's reliance on playing starters heavy minutes during the regular season and his "inability to adjust" was a source of frustration.
Even with those concerns, things were going well for the Knicks on the court during Thibodeau's five-year tenure. They made the playoffs four times and won at least 50 games in each of the past two seasons.
It's easy for a team to say they should move on from a coach they believe has maxed out his ability with the roster, but you need to have a better plan to replace him than just hoping another team will give up their coach.
The Knicks have a good team and should be appealing to any number of candidates this summer. They just might need to start looking in different places to find them because their current approach doesn't seem to be working.
