New York Knicks: Ranking the head coaching candidates

Who are the best coaching candidates being considered for the New York Knicks?

The New York Knicks 2019-20 season is officially over. As 22 teams return to play this season in Orlando, Florida, the Knicks will preserve their lottery odds as the sixth worst team in the league and see their season end prematurely. President Leon Rose will now shift his full focus on hiring a head coach.

After David Fizdale was fired in December with a 4-18 record, interim coach Mike Miller did an admirable job taking over the reins for the final 44 games, with the team finishing 21-45. While Miller will be considered for the full-time gig, it seems the Knicks are leaning toward a veteran choice from outside the organization.

Several reports have put former Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau as the leading candidate. The team is also expected to interview former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, and Ian Begley reports other candidates could receive interviews, including former Knicks coach Mike Woodson.

While New York is expected to act quickly in hiring a new bench lead, let’s go through the top candidates and rank who makes the most sense to coach a young Knicks team looking to take the next step into becoming a playoff contender.

There are several qualified coaches to consider for the Knicks job, but I will focus on names that have been reported as possibilities.

Ranking Knicks coaching candidates: 6) Mark Jackson

Perhaps the most polarizing candidate for the head coaching job is former Knick Mark Jackson. The New York product has been loosely tied to the Knicks, as he was under consideration before the team hired David Fizdale, and he is still held in high regard by people in the Knicks organization, according to Ian Begley.

Jackson took over a faltering Warriors team in 2011 who had made the playoffs only once in the previous 17 seasons. By his second season on the job, the team surpassed 40 wins (47) for the first time since 2008, and advanced to the Western Conference Semifinals. Jackson won 51 games the following season, before being upset in the first round of the playoffs, and despite popularity among the players, including Steph Curry, he was fired.

So what happened? Why did Jackson lose his job after putting the Warriors on the path toward excellence? Well, that’s where we get into the challenges with Jackson. Apparently, behind the scenes, he is not an easy person to work alongside, which would surely go over well at Madison Square Garden under James Dolan (tongue-in-cheek).

If you want to get real detailed into the reasons Jackson is considered a troubling candidate, read the Twitter thread above. There are several anecdotes, on and off the court, that call into question Jackson’s character.

Knicks fans either love or hate Mark Jackson. I doubt he actually gets the job, and I would rank him last among the leading candidates.

Ranking Knicks coaching candidates: 5) Mike Woodson

Only one coach has left New York with a winning record since Jeff Van Gundy stepped down in 2001 and over a full coaching tenure under owner James Dolan, and that is Mike Woodson. According to SNY, the former Knicks coach will be interviewed for the current head coaching position.

Woodson led the Knicks to one of their best regular season records. They won 54-games in 2012-13, 7th most in franchise history, and by far, the most since James Dolan took over ownership of the team in 1999.

He was fired shortly after Phil Jackson took over as president of the Knicks and following a disappointing 2013-14 campaign that couldn’t build on the amazing momentum from the previous season.

The 62-year-old coach was an assistant for the Clippers for four seasons after leaving New York, before moving on from that role in 2018.

It’s hard to fully separate the results Woodson achieved in New York with the roster he was given control over. The team had Carmelo Anthony as an All-NBA player, and Woodson, perhaps infamously, built the offense around the prolific scorer. The team became a deadly three-point shooting team in 2012-13 under Woodson, aided by veterans such as Jason Kidd. With perimeter shooting, interior defense from Tyson Chandler, and the hot hand of Anthony, they were a fun team.

It’s questionable whether Woodson would be able to recreate that magic with a young team that doesn’t feature a star player who he can riden. Woodson is a better fit for a veteran team looking for a change of voice than a developing squad like the Knicks.

Ranking Knicks coaching candidates: 4) Tom Thibodeau

Well, this isn’t promising. The heavy favorite to take over as Knicks head coach is ranked fourth among reported candidates.

While Tom Thibodeau has had great success in the league, coaching for the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves, he also comes with a lot of baggage. Perhaps if the Knicks were looking for someone to coach the team he was an assistant for in the nineties, he would be a great fit. But these aren’t your 1990s Knicks anymore.

For a young team looking to develop several lottery picks, including another one from the upcoming 2020 draft, it is hard to say Thibs is the right match for this roster. Perhaps his hiring would signal a shift under Leon Rose toward building a more veteran team that uses young players and draft capital to add star players.

After cycling through seven coaches in seven seasons, it would be nice to see the Knicks find someone who can hang around for the majority of their contract. In my view, Thibodeau is a hired gun for a veteran team looking to win now, and not someone who is best suited for a long-term rebuild.

And we still haven’t talked about whether his style of coaching – turned up to 100 all of the time – is able to work in today’s NBA where star players are treated with extra care. I think the Knicks could do better than hiring Thibs, but ask me in a week after they inevitably hire him and I need to convince myself why it could work.

Ranking Knicks coaching candidates: 3) Jeff Van Gundy

Maybe it’s nostalgia still pulling me toward Jeff Van Gundy. Besides their brief stint of success under Mike Woodson, the Knicks have not been a perennial contender since Van Gundy was drinking diet cokes along the Madison Square Garden sideline.

The former Knicks coach has been out of the NBA since he was fired by the Houston Rockets in 2007, keeping his mind sharp as a commentator with another coaching candidate Mark Jackson on ESPN/ABC telecasts.

However, the 58-year-old coach has also spent time leading USA men’s basketball team at the 2017 FIBA AmeriCup tournament and 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers. He hasn’t forgotten how to lead a team.

The reason I put Van Gundy higher on the list than other veteran choices is his willingness to approach things with an open mind. He is not the kind of coach that is going to return to the league with a vendetta to prove that his style of coaching works. He will do whatever it takes to become a winner. I have no doubt he would adapt to the modern NBA.

While Van Gundy has hinted he is open to returning to a coaching job in New York, and he is reportedly on Leon Rose’s list of potential candidates, there has been no word of a possible interview. He is close with Thibodeau, so perhaps the two team together in a return to the Garden. Crazier things have happened.

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.

Ranking Knicks coaching candidates: 1) Kenny Atkinson

When you look at the Knicks roster and where they are on their path toward rebuilding into a winner, how do you not consider Kenny Atkinson as a top candidate?

The former Knicks assistant would essentially be taking over the same role he had with the Brooklyn Nets, turning a perennial loser with young talent into something respectable

Atkinson turned a 21-61 Nets team, deprived of their future lottery picks, and made them into a 42-40 playoff team that showed enough promise to entice superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to join forces this past summer. Ironically, the addition of the two stars led to Atkinson’s eventual departure, but there is no doubting his ability to get the best out of a young roster.

The Knicks could look to acquire a veteran star player, like Chris Paul, this offseason, but unless a unique opportunity arises, they will likely enter the 2020-21 season with a young core of Mitchell Robinson, R.J. Barrett, and their 2020 lottery pick, perhaps LaMelo Ball.

Atkinson is the perfect coach to lead a young group that desperately needs to develop NBA habits on their way to becoming productive players on a winning team, as he did with Caris LaVert, Jarrett Allen, Joe Harris, and D’Angelo Russell.

The 53-year-old also has an impressive track record as an assistant coach with both the Knicks and Hawks. He forged a bond with Jeremy Lin early in his career and helped players such as Al Horford and Jeff Teague develop in Atlanta.

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The Knicks need a coach who can be a part of the organization’s long-term solution. Kenny Atkinson is the best answer.