We officially know how the New York Knicks will operate during the 2025 NBA draft following the most recent update on their head coaching search: by doing a whole lot of absolutely nothing.
According to a joint report from NBA insiders Jake Fischer and Marc Stein over at The Stein Line Substack, a formal decision on Tom Thibodeau’s replacement “is not expected until after next week's draft.” This is bad news for anyone hoping that the Knicks would trade into the first round, or that they would begin touching up the roster with some draft-night wheeling and dealing.
Sure, New York can still theoretically be aggressive before hiring its next head coach. But that is beyond unlikely.
The Knicks need a head coach before they start making major moves
Although head coaches typically do not get the final say on roster decisions, teams generally want their input when it comes to making more substantive changes. Selecting someone with the No. 50 pick, the only 2025 draft selection New York currently owns, does not fall into this bucket.
Using distant first-round swaps to acquire an actual first-round pick in this year’s prospect pageant? Or trading one of the squad’s top-seven rotation players, whether it’s Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson or somebody else? Now that’s a different story.
And as for anyone holding out hope the Knicks might still trade for Kevin Durant? Forget about it. That is absolutely a transaction on which you need your new head coach’s input.
New York’s Leon Rose-led front office has made it clear that they want to see both functional and cultural shifts in how the team is managed under its new head coach. Those are reasonable, if not non-negotiable, priorities. But they require knowing who’s at the helm before acting on anything else.
Drafting or trading for players who may not be ideal fits for your next coach’s off-court and on-court ideologies would be a massive mistake. The Knicks are already moving on from one head honcho who, despite his preexisting ties to the team’s president, was clearly at odds with the front office’s vision and preferred method of execution. They risk forging a similarly awkward situation if they start changing up the roster, in any meaningful way, before tapping Taylor Jenkins, Mike Brown, or somebody else to be Thibs’ heir apparent.
Inaction during the NBA draft isn't necessarily a bad thing
This is not meant to imply New York’s “delay” in hiring a new head coach is problematic. With only one bottom-of-the-barrel draft pick and a top-of-the-roster rotation largely set in stone, they do not have to view the festivities taking place on Wednesday and Thursday night as some sort of unofficial deadline.
Still, we also can’t pretend the head-coaching situation was the Knicks’ only problem. It wasn’t. It isn’t. They have other issues that need tending—trades, free-agency signings, and potential extensions that must be addressed.
New York cannot do any of that before making its coaching hire, which means it won’t be doing anything leading into or during NBA draft week. Maybe that was the plan all along—to hold off on trades and extensions, specifically, until after the draft.
If that wasn’t the plan, well, it sure is now. Because it has to be.