Morning Knicks 6/23: Jason Kidd and Mike Brown Get Knicks' Head Coach Interviews, New York Offseason Deep Dive, and More
-Yesterday was a day that ends in "y," so of course there were new Knicks' head coaching candidates. First, the Athletic's Shams Charania reported that the Knicks will be interviewing Warriors' associate head coach Mike Brown for their head coaching vacancy. Brown is a polarizing coach. He's had varying degrees of success as the head coach of both the Cavaliers and Lakers, but most of that has coincided with the tenures of generational stars LeBron James and Kobe Bryant. Then Brown came to Golden State in 2016, earning multiple NBA championships in an important role. He also coached under Gregg Popovich. You can read more about Brown from our own Kris Pursiainen.
In addition to Brown, Marc Stein of The New York Times reported that the Knicks have "requested and received permission to interview" current Lakers' assistant coach Jason Kidd. The former Knick has been the head coach of the Nets and more notably the Bucks, where he had a strong relationship with Giannis Antetokounmpo. While fans may see this and connect the dots, it's important to note Kidd did not leave Brooklyn and Milwaukee on the best of terms. You can read more about Kidd getting an interview from SNY's Ian Begley.
-The Athletic has put together some excellent Knicks articles about the team's offseason, and they're back with perhaps their deepest dive yet. Seth Partnow, Danny Leroux, and Dave DuFour wrote about how they would handle the Knicks' offseason, focusing on the team's salary cap, analytics, and more. You can read the full article here, which has the trio of writers building around R.J. Barrett and Mitchell Robinson, adding floor spacing, discussing the pros and cons of Tom Thibodeau and other coaching options, and giving Leon Rose strategy for the 2020 NBA Draft.
-Everyone is speaking out about who the Knicks should hire to be their next head coach, and the writers of Knicks SI are joining the party. Our own David Vertsberger makes the case for keeping current interim head coach Mike Miller. The Knicks weren't good under Miller, but they were certainly improved, which is all one can ask for out of this team. Vertsberger thinks Miller is the right choice because he brings one thing the other coaches can't: stability from this past season. You can read Vertsberger's article on Miller here.
-Mike Vorkunov continues to profile the Knicks' head coaching candidates, taking a look at Spurs assistant Will Hardy. There isn't a ton known about some of the assistants the Knicks are interviewing, so Vorkunov's piece gives solid insight on Hardy, from how he'll fit in New York to quotes from Gregg Popovich and Kawhi Leonard.
-MSG Network is back with a new themed week of Knicks broadcasting, as fans won't get to see their favorite team for some time. This week honors a Knicks' legend: Latrell Sprewell. Our own Kris Pursiainen has more on the different games that will be broadcasted as part of Sprewell's greatest hits.
-Knicks' fans may have been excited to watch Wizards' sharpshooter Davis Bertans in the NBA's return, as there are hopes of him becoming a Knick. Sadly, fans won't get that gift. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Bertans will sit out the NBA's restart, and it's hard to blame him. An upcoming free agent, Bertans has had a career year and brought his value to its peak. As a player who has torn his ACL twice, Bertans likely does not want to risk further injury and potentially lose money, especially since the Wizards have a minuscule shot of making the playoffs. It will be interesting to see which players follow suit given any of the above factors combined with the obvious health concern over COVID-19.
