New York Knicks: Ranking the head coaching candidates

Ranking Knicks coaching candidates: 2) Mike Miller

If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

After taking over for a team considered by many to have a “flawed” roster, Mike Miller was able to squeeze some wins out of the 2019-20 Knicks. The team turned their ugly 4-18 start into a 21-45 finish, placing Miller’s record of 17-27 (.386) as one of the strongest since Mike Woodson was fired. Low standards, I know.

Miller might not sell tickets or make for a splashy headline, but he has proven himself to be an incredible hard-worker and effective player development coach. He won G-League Coach of the Year in 2018 after leading the Westchester Knicks to a first place finish.

As Leon Rose has kept general manager Scott Perry in his current role, while surrounding him with new hires, why not let Miller stay on for another season, perhaps adding some new assistants, and give him a fair chance to prove whether he is a long-term solution?

There’s no ticking time bomb on when the Knicks need to hire a new coach, other than one placed internally on themselves. If they don’t like the results with Miller, they can conduct another search next offseason. Could someone like Tom Thibodeau or Kenny Atkinson be gone by then? Perhaps. But there is never a shortage of candidates to consider every coaching search cycle.

Maybe Mike Miller proves worthy of keeping the job. He will at least be interviewed, but it appears it’s a long-shot he actually stays in his current role.