David Fizdale Named Knicks Head Coach; Sides Reportedly Agree to 4-Year Contract

The New York Knicks announced Monday that they have reached an agreement with David Fizdale to serve as the team's next head coach. 

ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski first reported the deal on May 3 and noted the contract is a four-year deal.

Fizdale, 43, was hired by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2016-17 season, leading the team to a 43-39 record. But after the team opened the 2017-18 season just 7-12 he was surprisingly fired, with JB Bickerstaff taking over as interim head coach.

A dispute with star center Marc Gasol perhaps precipitated that firing. The game before Fizdale's dismissal, the head coach benched Gasol during the fourth quarter of a loss.

"There was tension between the two," Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said at the time, according to Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal. "This is a factor, but it's not the overriding factor. We talked to Marc in real time about the same time we talked to Coach Fizdale."

And Gasol acknowledged he didn't handle every situation perfectly.

"I understand that I've made some mistakes," he said in December. "I understand I'm responsible for some of the things—not all the things. In any relationship, there's multiple moving pieces. Not just one."

Fizdale earned a ringing endorsement from Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade, who called him a "phenomenal coach" in April.

"He's going to bring to a team his work ethic, a great offensive-minded coach but has defensive principles from Miami [president] Pat Riley has installed in every coach that's come here," Wade noted, per Marc Berman of the New York Post, later adding: "He's a good manager of personalities. The sky's the limit for whatever organization will get him and give him the opportunity to really put his fingerprints on an organization."

New York is that organization, and in Fizdale they are getting a longtime NBA assistant who is highly regarded around the NBA, especially among the league's players. The Knicks are banking on Fizdale changing the culture and providing direction for their rebuild in the coming years.

In the Big Apple, Fizdale will be the latest man to try to corral the James Dolan-led circus. But there are building blocks in place. He has a superstar and franchise cornerstone to build around in Kristaps Porzingis, solid role players in Frank Ntilikina, Emmanuel Mudiay and Tim Hardaway Jr., and likely a top-10 pick in this year's NBA draft.

If the Knicks can attract a star free agent this summer as well—a long shot, but a possibility nonetheless—Fizdale could have the makings of a playoff roster on his hands. At this point, however, developing and creating a positive culture and program around Porzingis would be a step in the right direction.