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Knicks’ coaching search: Every candidate linked to New York

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Four days into the search, we compiled all sources linking candidates to the Knicks.

Normally, when a team’s season ends, there’s a bit of a lull until the NBA draft starts the offseason. That can feel like forever if you miss the playoffs, but the later your season ends, the quicker the lull is.

Unless you’re a Knicks fan in 2025. The dismissal of Tom Thibodeau as the team’s head coach has caused a media frenzy for the past four days that has even overshadowed the beginning of the NBA Finals (until yet another crazy Indiana comeback, we tried to warn them). While most of the media attention has been negative towards the Knicks for firing him (as was the 600-voter P&T poll we ran), there have also been some rumors on who will become the 32nd head coach in Knicks history.

All sorts of candidates have been floated, some more realistic than others. Let’s try to piece together who’s getting the most buzz before we start hearing about interviews.

1. Not Happening, College Edition​

Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Jay Wright (Former Villanova Head Coach)

As much as it would be fun to see the Hall of Fame coach reunite with the Nova Knicks, the 63-year-old retired from coaching in 2022, seemingly not wanting to deal with the then-burgeoning NIL explosion that’ll make it a significant chore to recruit and retain talent. A coach with that mentality in college isn’t jumping to the pros. CBS Sports analyst Seth Davis, who works with Wright in his new gig, said it’s not happening. Everyone else who’s actually weighed in agrees.

(Update: Jon Rothstein makes it official.)

Sources: Jay Wright is not a candidate for the New York Knicks head coaching vacancy.

Wright and Leon Rose regularly speak and Rose is aware that Wright is happily retired from coaching.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 7, 2025​

Dan Hurley (UConn Head Coach)

Hurley made sense. He was very close to leaving the back-to-back national champions for the Lakers job last year, but elected to stay in Storrs. Like Wright, it was believed the Knicks were the team that could lure him into the pros. Unfortunately for fans of his, he stated he’s not going through this again. Maybe if the Lakers saga didn’t happen last year, he’d consider it.

Rick Pitino (St. John’s Head Coach)

Another Big East coach, another Knicks fan. Pitino is one of three former Knicks coaches linked (1987-89) and last coached in the NBA for the Boston Celtics in 2001. He’s 72 and doesn’t want to deal with the expectations while building something special with the Johnnies.

2. Not Happening, NBA Edition​

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images

Ime Udoka (Houston Rockets Head Coach)

In a vacuum, Udoka is a slam dunk. He’s had success in Boston and Houston and is a great head coach. The Knicks want him! The problem is that in the NBA, you have to request to interview an active head coach, and, obviously, Houston won’t let us. I severely doubt that he pulls a Pat Riley either. Womp womp.

Rockets have ‘no interest’ in letting Ime Udoka go to Knicks https://t.co/SAXhCouAq3 pic.twitter.com/fjOMHA2fp8

— New York Post (@nypost) June 5, 2025​

Jeff Van Gundy (Los Angeles Clippers Assistant Coach)

Van Gundy has plenty of coaching experience. After being Riley’s assistant in the 90s, Van Gundy led the Knicks’ bench from 1995 to 2002 before spending four seasons with the Rockets. He just got back into coaching, and plenty of people have brought him up, but it doesn’t seem to have any legs.

Mike D’Antoni (former New York Knicks Head Coach)

This is another one of those that is randomly going around and has no legs. D’Antoni has coached the Suns, Nuggets, Lakers, and Rockets, but nobody here can forget his 3.5 seasons with the Knicks, which ended unceremoniously due to his scuffles with Carmelo Anthony in 2011-12. Oh yeah, he also hasn’t been on a bench since 2021 and just turned 74.

Rick Brunson (New York Knicks Associate Head Coach)

It’s not happening. The real question is if he’ll stay on the next coach’s staff.

3. Limited Smoke, But Possible​

Photo by Isaac Wasserman/Clarkson Creative/Getty Images

Mike Malone (former Denver Nuggets Head Coach)

Malone, fresh off his shocking dismissal prior to the postseason by Denver, is the current betting favorite and his name has been floated around by many analysts, reporters, and social media people. However, the move doesn’t make sense.

Sure, Malone was born in Queens and went to high school in West Orange. Sure, his dad was an assistant coach here under Van Gundy. Sure, he’s an NBA champion. Sure, Malone got his first NBA job as a Knicks assistant in 2003. It still doesn’t make sense. Malone is cut from the same cloth as Thibodeau and wouldn’t represent a stylistic change that the front office likely made this move for. He, along with the next guy, won their titles because of an all-world superstar.

Knicks fans wanting to replace Thibs with Mike Malone pic.twitter.com/pBKrvmVGxs

— Blames (@blames_) June 3, 2025​

Mike Budenholzer (former Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach)

Budenholzer is an NBA champion, but his career outside of the 2021 postseason is heavily underwhelming. He was just fired after a disastrous season with the Suns. The major reporters haven’t linked him to the Knicks, but he’s lurking.

Taylor Jenkins (former Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach)

After an ugly and spontaneous exit in Memphis, why is Jenkins considered? It’s not long ago that Jenkins was considered one of the top young coaches in basketball. Despite having the Evan Fournier hair conundrum, Jenkins is just 40 years old and led the Grizzlies to two 50-win seasons in a brutal Western Conference. The culture in Memphis and New York is totally different, and that’s seen in the difference in the public appearance of their stars, Ja Morant and Jalen Brunson. He’s been linked by The Athletic.

Chris Quinn (Miami Heat Associate Head Coach)

I haven’t done much research into Quinn’s philosophy, but he’s on the short list of assistants due for a coaching job. He’s served as an assistant for Erik Spoelstra in Miami since 2014 and has received interviews for the past few seasons, most recently being a semifinalist for the now-filled Phoenix Suns job. Outside of The Athletic, there’s not much buzz on him... yet. Coach Spo is a genius, and it wouldn’t be surprising if someone from his tree succeeded on his own.

4. Real Smoke​

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Mike Brown (former Sacramento Kings Head Coach)

Another Mike! This one is interesting. While Brown lacks true success as a head coach, he’s intriguing. Looking to optimize your offense? Why not get a guy who was a big part of the Warriors dynasty as Steve Kerr’s right-hand man? Detractors will say that he’s failed with LeBron James (Cavs, 2005-10), Kobe Bryant (Lakers, 2011-12), and his most recent job blew up in smoke (Kings, 2022-24), but there might be something there.

Mike Brown and Luke Walton are among the head coaching names linked to the New York Knicks, per @SbondyNBA

“Jason Kidd, another potential candidate, is also under contract with the Mavericks, but the possibility of him shaking loose is less clear at this point. Two random names… pic.twitter.com/Z6wnDlU8OT

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 5, 2025​

Luke Walton (Detroit Pistons Associate Head Coach)

Also linked to the Knicks by Stefan Bondy is Walton, who was also a former assistant under Steve Kerr. Walton’s exploits on his own haven’t gone well, having been sacked by the Kings and Lakers with a grand total of zero playoff appearances. I don’t see it, but it’s there.

Chris Finch (Minnesota Timberwolves Head Coach)

This could very well be in the same tier as Ime Udoka, but the lack of a pure refusal by Minnesota yet keeps the door open. The Knicks seem to like their chances with Finch more than Udoka and, after back-to-back Western Conference Finals appearances, the Minnesota coach is knocking on the door of success. Plus, he coached Karl-Anthony Towns, is connected to general manager Gersson Rosas and got the best out of him in the double big system with Rudy Gobert in 2023-24. They had the best defense last year!

5. The Wild Card​

Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images

Johnnie Bryant (Cleveland Cavaliers Associate Head Coach)

Oh, Johnnie.

The man who felt like the successor to Tom Thibodeau walked out the door in a lateral move last offseason to follow his close friend, Donovan Mitchell, to Cleveland. That revamped coaching staff, led by Kenny Atkinson, turned the Cavs from second-rate to a 64-win top seed. With prior relationships to management, Thibs’ old staff, and most of the roster, he seems like the most logical choice to move forward with a fresh approach while having a familiar face keep things steady in the locker room.

But, if it’s such a no-brainer, where’s the smoke?

After losing out on the Suns job to Jordan Ott, Bryant is being linked as a “logical choice”, but that’s it. I’d assume he gets an interview, but if it was as much of a slam dunk as some thought, what’s the hold-up?

6. The Early Frontrunner​

Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks Head Coach)

There’s a lot to unpack.

Jason Kidd is one of the greatest point guards of all time. He spent the final year of his illustrious career as a Knick before going into coaching, wearing out his welcome in Brooklyn and Milwaukee, and has settled into Dallas.

At one point, it looked like the Mavs were a train wreck that everyone wanted to leave immediately. Nico Harrison made the most infamous trade in league history, and they almost had to forfeit games midseason. With Kyrie Irving rehabbing a torn ACL and Anthony Davis increasingly brittle, the franchise was given the life raft of the century when they were gifted the right to draft Duke forward Cooper Flagg later this month, a gift that several tanking Knicks teams were never bestowed.

Dallas’ future outlook is now intriguing. Would Kidd leave it? The bigger question might be, will Dallas let him leave?

The risk with targeting guys currently employed is that you don’t control whether you can hire them. The Knicks are seemingly targeting Kidd in the event that Dallas is willing to let him go.

There’s one more wrinkle. A Greek Freak-sized wrinkle.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Bucks’ superstar, allegedly on the verge of asking out, loved Kidd as coach in Milwaukee. The Knicks are apparently willing to be aggressive in the pursuit of Giannis despite limited assets. Is this a plan for a 2-for-1?

REPORT: The Knicks are preparing to make a “tsunami-type offer” to acquire Giannis from the Bucks, per @GeryWoelfel.

Here we go. pic.twitter.com/I8Z0yVr92J

— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) June 6, 2025​

My two cents are that you better be sure you can get this package deal done. You’ve been left at the altar by stars for decades. We’re past this. Don’t let it happen again.

Source: https://www.postingandtoasting.com/...nt-hurley-finch-udoka-kidd-jenkins-mike-brown