Knicks' Tom Thibodeau Says Team Must Be 'Very Aggressive' in Pursuit of Star

While the New York Knicks haven't been a marquee free-agent destination in years, that won't stop first-year head coach Tom Thibodeau from exploring all of the options to possibly kick-start the franchise back into contention.

"Sometimes you have to do it through trades, sometimes it's free agency," Thibodeau said of getting a ready-made star, per the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "But I think you have to be very aggressive in seeking out those opportunities. They just don't happen by accident. You have to make them happen."

While some may not read those comments as a significant departure from how the Knicks have operated, one could counter they were a firm rebuke of what led New York to miss out on Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.

The Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks in January 2019, which gave them the flexibility to sign two free agents to max contracts the following offseason. That March, team governor James Dolan said he believed the team would have "a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents."

However, little else was done to address any of the longstanding issues that have plagued the franchise. Not surprisingly, Irving and Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets rather than the Knicks.

While Thibodeau didn't reference the Nets directly, he may have them in mind when he charts a new vision for his current employer.

Kenny Atkinson and Sean Marks spent three years building Brooklyn from one of the NBA's bottom-dwellers to a playoff team. That success helped make the Nets a major player for marquee free agents such as Irving and Durant.

The same thing happened with the Los Angeles Clippers, who under the watch of Steve Ballmer have fully shed the reputation they carried during Donald Sterling's tenure.

Of course, talking up the need to build organizational stability is all well and good, but Dolan has been the one constant during the Knicks' malaise. They have cycled through multiple head coaches and front-office regimes with little success.

Whatever overarching plan Thibodeau has in mind could be undone by Dolan at a moment's notice.