It seems the Knicks' coaching search will drag out further, as Stefan Bondy of the New York Post and Christian Clark and Sam Amick of the Athletic all reported on Tuesday that the Mavericks will not entertain the possibility of Jason Kidd becoming New York's next head coach. The reports come after Brian Windhorst reported earlier this week there was "mutual interest" between the pair.
According to the Bondy report, the Mavericks would decline any request from the Knicks to interview their coach, while Clark and Amick stated, "Mavericks continue to privately insist to key stakeholders that Kidd won’t be going anywhere."
The Knicks, of course, parted ways with Tom Thibodeau earlier this month, in a move many had found shocking, as Thibodeau had just led the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2000.
Do the Knicks have a plan?
Many, including myself, assumed that when the Knicks parted ways with Thibodeau, they had a successor lined up. However, in the days following Thibodeau's dismissal, it has become abundantly clear that is not the case.
If Kidd was "Plan A", that appears to likely be off the table now. What is "Plan B"? Many names have been tossed around, including Ime Udoka and Chris Finch. Both of those options seem unlikely to me, so what is the next plan? Former assistant Johnnie Bryant's name has floated around, but if that was the plan, why wouldn't he have been hired already?
The grass isn't always greener
Thibodeau's fingerprints are all over the turnaround that has occurred with the Knicks' franchise over the previous five years. He should be celebrated for what he accomplished during his time here; that much is clear.
With that said, I was a proponent of the Thibodeau dismissal. While he was the perfect coach to get the Knicks to this point, I don't think he was the right coach to get them to a title. He is the epitome of a floor riser, but I do not necessarily view him as a ceiling riser.
With that said, the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Thibodeau is a fantastic coach, and if the Knicks did not have a better coach, or a coach more equipped to lead them to where they need to get lined up, Thibodeau never should have been fired in the first place. Knicks management has proved to push the right buttons over recent years, but this latest display should have fans asking questions.