Knicks head coach search: Could a new name enter the conversation?

New York Times

23-06-2025

The NBA Draft and free agency will take place within the next week, and the New York Knicks are still going through the process of finding a new head coach.
When New York fired Tom Thibodeau close to three weeks ago, the franchise set out to do an extensive search for his replacement. The Knicks have the NBA's only head coaching vacancy with no competition in the market.
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The process reached a new stage last week, when New York held interviews with former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins and former Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown. Both candidates interviewed over multiple days and were impressive, per league sources. The 40-year-old Jenkins was fired by the Grizzlies just before the start of the playoffs after, essentially, six full seasons manning the sideline and posting a 250-214 record. Brown was fired by the Kings early in the regular season. Aside from his time in Sacramento, he's been a head coach for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He was also an assistant on Steve Kerr's Golden State Warriors staff.
Jenkins and Brown appear to be the front-runners as of now. However, New York has tossed around the idea of speaking with James Borrego for its vacancy, per league sources. Borrego, a CAA client, is known around the league for his offensive creativity and analytics-forward approach.
Borrego spent last season as an assistant coach on Willie Green's staff in New Orleans and was last a head coach for the Charlotte Hornets from 2018-22. His record in those four seasons doesn't pop off the screen, but Borrego led the struggling franchise to a 43-win season just before he was let go. Charlotte has won 40-plus games during the regular season just four times since 2005, which includes Borrego's final year in charge.
Something else to continue to monitor is the Knicks' interest in Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.
While a long shot to join New York, Kidd — who is under contract for two more years and the Mavericks, per league sources, have shown no interest to this point in allowing their coach to leave — still hasn't agreed to an extension like other currently-employed head coaches who the Knicks showed interest in during the first stage of their search. New York reached out to Houston to speak with Ime Udoka and to Chicago to speak with Billy Donovan. Udoka agreed to an extension with the Rockets last week, league sources told The Athletic. And according to multiple reports, the Bulls and Billy Donovan are in the process of working on a contract extension.
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There has been nothing regarding Kidd and an extension in Dallas to this point. Furthermore, Dallas did not extend the contracts of Kidd's assistant coaches after the franchise made it to the Western Conference finals last year. Kidd is going to lose his longtime assistant Sean Sweeney to the San Antonio Spurs, league sources confirm to The Athletic. Other top Mavericks assistants, Jared Dudley and God Shammgod, have received interest from rival ballclubs, per league sources, and have contracts that expire on June 30, which is also when Sweeney's deal is up. These all factor into why the Knicks-Kidd chatter won't fully go away.
While it's not ideal, the Knicks don't necessarily need a head coach by Wednesday's NBA Draft. New York holds the No. 50 pick. Having a head coach in place by the start of free-agency negotiations next week would be beneficial for the Knicks. However, until further notice, not having one signals that the franchise could be keeping the core of its roster intact.
With all that said, New York can continue to search for a Thibodeau replacement at its own pace.
— Fred Katz contributed to this story.
(Photo of James Borrego: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)