The New York Knicks reportedly offered a coaching position to Pablo Prigioni during the 2017 offseason. The interest remains.
With a plethora of young guards on the roster, the New York Knicks are looking at at a familiar face to help develop their talent. According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, team president Steve Mills offered Pablo Prigioni a position before the 2017-18 season started.
Prigioni ultimately turned it down for a head coaching job at Baskonia, where he spent the majority of his career prior to joining the Knicks in 2012. Prigioni didn’t last long there, stepping down after just eight games.
Prigioni has since been seen in New York, spending time with the Brooklyn Nets. With the main objective being the development of the young guards, the Knicks may once again be looking to offer Prigioni a job.
Nothing has been officially offered, but Berman reports that New York is considering bringing Prigioni in as a developmental coach.
"As a result, the Knicks are considering bringing aboard former point guard Pablo Prigioni as a developmental coach, according to two industry sources."
Prigioni has a unique perspective that the Knicks appear to be intrigued by.
Prigioni instantly became a crowd favorite in New York for his pesky defense and unselfishness. To date, he’s the oldest rookie ever to don an NBA jersey, and was a key contributor to the team that got to the second round of the playoffs in 2013.
There’s no doubt with his pedigree that Prigioni could help the guards. That includes Frank Ntilikina, who shares a similar European background and adjustment to the NBA game.
Jarrett Jack can only do so much in a mentoring role; he also has to stay prepared himself. That limits the impact he can have on the growth of the other guards. He’s there to boost their confidence and point out the little things.
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Since joining the Knicks, Trey Burke has had his moments. Part of the reason why his minutes are inconsistent, however, is because when he’s not scoring, he’s not providing much else.
It will be interesting to see what a lineup featuring all three guards would look like. Out of the three, Burke may be the weakest distributor.
Ntilikina has shown the most willingness to defend. Offensively, his indecisiveness is what holds him back most.
Playing alongside Emmanuel Mudiay for the first time, Ntilikina took the role of off guard for the majority of the game. Without the pressure to set up others, Ntilikina put up shots without pause.
Mudiay was impressive in his Knicks debut on Feb. 11. There wasn’t much more you could ask for out of him considering the fact that he never got to practice with the team. It appears this was the right move by general manager Scott Perry.
Bringing in another voice in Prigioni would be another smart move.
For the rest of the season, the priority will be developing the young guards. During his playing days, current Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek was a combo guard. From his time playing with the likes of Kevin Johnson and John Stockton, he’s able to identify when a player has the tools to be the floor general.
That’s exactly what Prigioni was throughout his career.
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Having someone like that in the ears of Trey Burke, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Frank Ntilkina would help take the New York Knicks to the next level.