Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins Reportedly to Interview for Knicks HC Job Next Week

Former Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins and former Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown are set to interview for the New York Knicks' vacant head coaching position next week, according to The Athletic's James L. Edwards III.

Jenkins and Brown are considered "the leading candidates" to replace former Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, Edwards wrote on Friday.

The Knicks are additionally expected start initiating interviews with other teams' assistant head coaches next week, Edwards reported.

It is also possible the Knicks will "circle back" to the Dallas Mavericks' Jason Kidd and Chicago Bulls' Billy Donovan after initially being denied interview requests, according to Edwards.

"The belief around the league is that Kidd and Donovan are looking for contract extensions from their current franchises, and if those don’t materialize, they might be open to joining the Knicks," Edwards wrote.

The Knicks are seeking a replacement for Thibodeau after firing him on June 3, days after his team was eliminated from its first conference finals appearance since 2000.

Jenkins was fired with just over a week left in the regular season as the postseason-bound Grizzlies faltered down the stretch. He was the league's fifth-longest tenured head coach at the time.

The Grizzlies had a 44-29 record when he was fired, marking the fourth time the team had posted a winning record in Jenkins' six seasons as head coach.

Jenkins helped the Grizzlies tie a franchise record with 56 wins in 2021-22, but was never able to take Memphis past the second round.

He started out his coaching career with five years as an assistant with the Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks before joining the Grizzlies in 2019.

Brown was fired earlier in the season after the Kings got off to a 13-18 start to the campaign.

Named the NBA Coach of the Year after helping the Kings end a 16-year playoff drought in 2023, Brown's team fell short of the playoffs in 2024 and looked at risk of another miss this spring despite the offseason acquisition of DeMar DeRozan.

Brown recorded previous head coaching stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Lakers. He reached the 2007 NBA Finals with LeBron James and the Cavs before getting swept by the San Antonio Spurs.

SNY's Ian Begley recently reported that the Knicks are "in no rush to make a hire" after dismissing Thibodeau with three years and $30 million remaining on his contract.

Begley wrote that the Knicks will "cast a wide net in their search, including unemployed NBA head coaches and current assistant coaches."

Thibodeau helped turn the Knicks from a perennial Eastern Conference basement team to an annual playoff contender, but ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported he was fired in part because New York leadership didn't believe he could lead the team to a title.

Jenkins and Brown's respective playoff experience could make them attractive candidates for a Knicks front office looking for a coach they believe can coach a championship team.