NBA Rumors: Latest Buzz on Knicks Coaching Staff, Zach LaVine Trade Market

The New York Knicks officially have their head coach of the future in Tom Thibodeau. Now, the team will look to assemble his staff.

Thibodeau and the Knicks came to an agreement on a five-year pact this weekend, and now it seems some of New York's other head coaching candidates might join his staff, including former interim coach Mike Miller.

Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic reported "there is a sense" Miller will remain on the staff, though he has not been guaranteed a spot.

Ian Begley of SNY.tv previously noted both Miller and former Knicks head coach Mike Woodson "have strong internal support" to join Thibodeau's staff.

Retaining Miller would seem to be a no-brainer. He did a serviceable job stepping in for former head coach David Fizdale, going 17-27 and at least salvaging some semblance of progress from an otherwise morbid season for the Knicks.

Woodson is currently out of work, but he has a lengthy track record as an NBA coach. The former NBA shooting guard led the Atlanta Hawks to a pair of playoff series wins in 2009 and 2010. He also took over as interim coach of the Knicks during the 2011-12 season, leading the team to 54 wins and a playoff victory the following year after being given the job full-time.

Regardless of who the Knicks hire as his assistants, Thibodeau has his work cut out for him in the Big Apple.

The Knicks have not made the playoffs since the 2012-13 season under Woodson, and they have not eclipsed the 30-win mark in any of the past three seasons. Moreover, New York might not be able to do much with the cap space it has, as this is one of the more underwhelming free-agent classes in years.

Begley alluded to some of the questions surrounding Thibodeau's ability to coach young players, though he had plenty of success building a defensive-minded culture around Derrick Rose when he was a young star with the Chicago Bulls.

In any case, the Knicks will hope to surround Thibodeau with a group of coaches who can help him turn things around for a franchise in desperate need of progress.

Knicks, Nets Showing Interest in Zach LaVine

Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

Begley also reported Friday "both" the Knicks and Brooklyn Nets are keeping tabs on Bulls shooting guard Zach LaVine.

According to Begley, both New York teams "have done background work on LaVine to be prepared for the possibility that Chicago ends up listening to trade offers on the 25-year-old guard."

LaVine has been Chicago's best offensive weapon in the last two seasons. The 25-year-old averaged 25.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists for the Bulls this past year while also shooting 38 percent from beyond the arc on 8.1 attempts per game. He also showed signs of improvement defensively, averaging 1.5 steals and posting the best defensive box plus-minus of his career, per Basketball Reference.

It remains to be seen what kind of roster moves the Bulls will make after hiring Arturas Karnisovas to be the lead executive.

LaVine still has two years remaining on the four-year, $78 million contract he signed with the team prior to the 2018-19 season, so there is not necessarily any urgency in moving him. Not to mention, Karnisovas might choose to retain LaVine as Chicago's centerpiece as he looks to build a winner.

It is not surprising both the Knicks and Nets would show interest. The Knicks are in desperate need of a star, and ESPN's Brian Windhorst reported back in March the Nets were looking for a third star to pair with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

While LaVine might start the 2020-21 season with the Bulls, perhaps one of the New York teams will come calling should Chicago continue to struggle ahead of next year's trade deadline.

All stats obtained via Basketball Reference, unless otherwise noted.