Knicks' 2026 NBA Finals Odds Make Surprising Jump After Firing Tom Thibodeau

The New York Knicks reportedly relieved Tom Thibodeau of his duties on Tuesday, moving their NBA Finals odds for next season.

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was fired on Tuesday after leading his team to the Eastern Conference Finals. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks are making a massive change just a few days after getting eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals.

ESPN's Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that head coach Tom Thibodeau has been relieved of his duties by the Knicks. Thibodeau, who led the Knicks to the playoffs in four of his five seasons as the tema's head coach, had just completed his second straight 50-win regular season.

BREAKING: The New York Knicks are relieving Tom Thibodeau of his duties as head coach, sources tell ESPN. Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first East Finals in 25 years, made playoffs in 4 of 5 years and led Knicks to consecutive 50+ win seasons for first time since the 1990s. pic.twitter.com/B7w8KhoEcF

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 3, 2025

The Knicks are making the move in their "best interest" of winning a title, according to the New York Post's Stefan Bondy.

The decision to move on from Thibodeau was made by Leon Rose with support from Knicks owner James Dolan.

BREAKING: Tom Thibodeau has been relieved of his duties as Knicks head coach, league source tells The Post.

Team felt it is in best interest of getting to next level of winning championship.

Decision was Leon Rose’s, per league source, with owner’s support.

— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) June 3, 2025

Even though there were some questions about Thibodeau's job security after the Knicks lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals, he had an endorsement from Knicks captain and All-NBA guard Jalen Brunson, whose father is also on the staff.

The move to fire Thibodeau has impacted the Knicks' odds for next season, but not in the way you may expect. At DraftKings, New York is now tied with the Indiana Pacers at +800 for the second-best odds to win the NBA Finals in the 2025-26 campaign. New York had previously been behind the Pacers in the market after losing to them in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Thibodeau certainly raised the Knicks' ceiling during his time with the team, but his lack of use of the bench unit -- and his isolation offensive tactics -- may have hurt the Knicks in their playoff run.

Now, New York will turn its focus to finding a new coach that can get the most out of a group that is pretty locked in (barring a trade) for next season. The Knicks don't have much cap or draft pick flexibility to add to their roster without trading one of their top six or seven players.

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Find Peter Dewey's NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on  BetStamp here.

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