Knicks Rumors: Latest Buzz on New York's Coaching Hot Seat
As the New York Knicks look to transition into the post-Phil Jackson era, there's one phrase that immediately comes to mind: out with the old, in with the new.
Jeff Hornacek, who has one year left on his contract as the Knicks' head coach, is on the hot seat because New York has already been eliminated from the playoffs, making this the fifth year in a row that they'll miss the postseason.
With Hornacek's days numbered, former Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson is reportedly the Knicks' prime target as his successor, according to New York Times' Marc Stein's weekly newsletter:
"The former Knicks guard Mark Jackson keeps coming up as a hot name to succeed Hornacek, amid a growing belief the Knicks' new front-office chief—Scott Perry—will want to install his own hand-picked choice heading into next season.
"It's difficult to fault Hornacek for much of the chaos that has engulfed the Knicks during his two seasons in charge. But there's no avoiding the fact he was a Phil Jackson selection, which could well doom him now that the organization seems intent on cutting every non-Porzingian tie to the Phil era as possible."
Although the Knicks are on a two-game winning streak, they are 26-45 for the season and 57-96 overall under Hornacek.
New York is a tough market, so even though Kristaps Porzingis has been sidelined with a torn ACL and the team suffers from a lack of talent, Hornacek is still expected to win.
The fact that they've grossly underachieved under his watch has made Hornacek acutely aware that it might be time to update his resume and put out some feelers for a new gig.
"At the end of the season I'm sure we'll sit down with (president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry) and figure out what we're doing," Hornacek told the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "As a coach you'd like to know if you're going to be here next year. But our job right now is take the guys that we have on this team and try to get them better."
In addition to Mark Jackson, Stein reported that former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt is also on the Knicks' radar:
"Another name to file away here: The former Cleveland coach David Blatt has a longstanding relationship with the Knicks' president Steve Mills dating to their days as Princeton teammates. You wonder if that'll finally earn Blatt his first meaningful look from an NBA franchise since the Cavaliers fired him in January 2016 while sporting a record of 30-11."
Blatt's relationship with Mills notwithstanding, Mark Jackson makes the most sense. He was loved by his players and built the defensive foundation on which Golden State used to win two championships.
Last year, when asked about why the Warriors defense was so good, Steve Kerr gave Mark Jackson the credit:
"I didn't. I didn't; Mark Jackson did. Honestly. When I was in TV, I was doing Warriors games for years; every year they were one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Mark came in and made a focus of being a tough defensive-minded team."
Outside of his success as a coach, Mark Jackson is also a former Knicks player, and he would be an easy sell to the team's rabid fanbase.
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