The Knicks are still without a head coach on the first day of free agency. However, according to a tweet from Frank Isola of ESPN, a frontrunner is emerging from the pack of candidates, Mike Brown. The search has been drawn out and highly scrutinized, and it is less than ideal that the team is entering free agency without a head coach. That said, fans should be thrilled that Brown is the leader in the clubhouse.
The Knicks have conducted an incredibly lengthy search since dismissing Tom Thibodeau at the beginning of the month. On one hand, it can be taken as a positive sign that they are evaluating all options and leaving no stone unturned in what is one of the most important hires in the organization's recent history.
On the other hand, the search went through the draft, and now appears likely to trickle into the early days of free agency. That could end up costing the Knicks free agents, as veterans like to know who they will be playing for before signing a deal.
Fans should be thrilled
I have drilled this point home in previous articles, but the Knicks moved on from Thibodeau because, while he is a great coach, he wasn't the right coach for the Knicks. Fans could spend the whole day saying that Thibodeau is a better coach than Brown is, and maybe he is, but Brown is better equipped to lead this roster.
As I have said previously, Brown is an excellent offensive coach. The Knicks roster is constructed to be an offense-first team. The Knicks need a coach who is willing to make decisions, like moving Josh Hart to the bench for Deuce McBride, which Thibodeau wasn't willing to do.
Brown's time in Sacramento, as the head coach of the Kings, is proof that he has the ability to guide a team that is centered around an offensive-minded point guard and center who both are defensive liabilities, which is the exact way the Knicks roster is constructed.
What's the hold up?
Brown is the right man for the job; now the Knicks need to make the signing so he can get to New York and start making decisions. One thing that could be holding up the decision, as Isola mentioned in his tweet, is the fact that Jason Kidd has not received a contract extension from the Mavericks yet.
Kidd was the Knicks' first choice to take the wheel after Thibodeau was fired. The Mavericks declined the Knicks' request to interview Kidd for the job, but reports have indicated that until the Mavericks lock Kidd up long-term, the Knicks will still view him as an option.