Although the Knicks reportedly have strong interest in Jay Wright, it doesn’t appear as if the Villanova head coach reciprocates that interest, as we outlined earlier this week.
A report on Monday suggested Wright has no plans to leave his post at Villanova, and Ian Begley of SNY.tv hears a similar sentiment from an NCAA source, who says Wright would have to be “” to even consider leaving his current job.
While Wright may not be a realistic target for the Knicks as they seek a permanent head coach this spring, veteran NBA coach Tom Thibodeau – who is expected to receive consideration – sounds much more open to being courted. A Thibodeau “confidant” tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that the former Bulls and Timberwolves head coach would be very interested in the Knicks’ position.
“He really wants the Knick job,” the source told Berman. “He can taste it and he may even be in the lead.”
Considering the Knicks haven’t even yet announced Leon Rose as their new president of basketball operations, it may be premature to declare a frontrunner for the team’s head coaching job, but Thibodeau’s ties with Rose at CAA should help make him a contender.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- In a separate New York Post article, Berman says that Dwyane Wade‘s three-day retirement celebration with the Heat this weekend is one reason Rose’s hiring by the Knicks has been delayed. As Berman explains, Rose helped plan the event for Wade, a longtime CAA client.
- Once Rose is officially installed as the Knicks’ new president of basketball operations, he’ll have a handful of pressing items on his to-do list, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News. Besides the head coaching search, Rose will have to plan for the draft and free agency, hire basketball operations staffers, and – perhaps most importantly – set boundaries with team owner James Dolan.
- In a story about Knicks branding consultant Steve Stoute making an appearance at All-Star weekend, Berman of The New York Post notes that interim head of basketball operations Scott Perry remains “in the dark” about his future – or lack thereof – with the organization.
I love Thibs, but he’s not a good head coach for the Knicks. His track record of developing young players is poor, his rotations are odd, his affinity for grizzled vets compromises talent growth, and he doesn’t seem like he’s great at all the politics of being a head coach.
He might be great for a team that’s super talented – hello 6ers! – but the Knicks? They need a seasoned coach that everyone likes, that knows how to handle media, and that knows how to develop young players. They need Sam Cassell, Jerry Stackhouse, Popeye Jones…any former player with coaching experience, basically.
Jason Kidd would be perfect. They need a point guard, and no one better to help develop one.
NO! He was AWFUL in Brooklyn!
Still passing on Mark Jackson. Who is probably a better coach.
Rose needs to put his FO team and strategy in place first, and the HC should be an extension of that.
Thibs could be a good choice, if the team is to be built around 2 way, high IQ, players, and there’s a consensus on his input and the timeline. If the FO thinks that Thibs alone can get this (or another) roster of misfit toys to play defense or otherwise establish an identity, then no – it’s bad choice.
Seconded