According to multiple reports, it seems like the Knicks are seriously considering moving down in the draft.

Another report recently came out that the Knicks have shown interest in Kentucky Guard Tyrese Maxey, according to Marc Berman.

Tyrese is projected to go in the teens, so it would make sense if the Knicks were to trade back from 8. Also, with the recent hire of Kenny Payne, former assistant and development coach at UK, it would make sense the Knicks would be interested.

The last rumor is the Knicks are very focused on the 2021 draft. The 2021 draft is a lot better than this years draft, with players such as Cade Cunningham, Jonathan Kuminga, and Jalen Green in the class.

By trading down, the Knicks could maybe get a 3rd first round pick for the 2021 draft.

Update: November 18th is the new proposed date.

Greer and Dice west assistants for Thibodeau during his time in Minnesota and Chicago.

The coaching staff is shaping up, as the three are joining Thibodeau, Kenny Payne, and Jonnie Bryant.

It seems as if the Knicks are confident that they can find the right player at 8, so don’t expect any trade-ups or downs.

What is so interesting about this class is that there are a lot of players that can turn out to be amazing players, but there are a lot of question marks. There aren’t any locks to be stats (maybe Anthony Edwards) but that’s it. It’s going to come down to how well the scouting is of each team. Also, with COVID, I don’t know if the combine will happen, and everything else that happens before the draft, which also may hurt teams of knowing the great players.

From a Knicks perspective, it seems like Killian Hayes might be there, who I would love. Other players that maybe there are Kira Lewis, Obi Toppin, Tyrese Halliburton, and more.

The Knicks may now look to trade up or down as this is a pretty weak draft class.

Some players in the 8th pick area that the Knicks may look at:

Killian Hayes

Obi Toppin

Devin Vassell

Tyrese Haliburton

We will get more updates as the draft gets closer, which is on October 16th.

First, The Knicks are hiring Johnnie Bryant as an assistant coach. Bryant previously was with Utah, and he is known for his player development. He has worked with guys like Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell, Paul Millsap, and more. If you guys were worried about Thibodeau and his development skills, you shouldn’t be worried anymore, as we now have two top developmental coaches on the bench.

Second, Mike Miller will not being joining Thibodeau’s staff and is pursuing other coaching opportunities as we speak. It seems unlikely he will be back in any capacity.

Lastly, even though it was reported a few weeks ago that Mike Woodson would be on the Knicks staff, there has not been an official announcement yet. However, it is still reported that Woodson will most likely be with the Knicks next season.

It will be interesting to see who will fill out the rest of the coaching bench, but we will have to wait a little bit longer.

Kenny has been an assistant coach at Kentucky since 2010. Kenny is a player-development guru and is a big part of why Kentucky has over 25 alumni in the league right now. KAT said that he was the “best developmental coach in the country”. He was also a huge key to Knox’s success in college, and now he will be helped by him again. This most likely means that Knox will be on the team next year. I don’t know how we were able to get him away from the UK, but from what I’ve read and heard, I’m very happy we did. Seems like a great hire.

Expect more assistant coaches hires soon. Mike Woodson still has not been officially hired, so look out for that also.

Lets look at Woodson’s HC tenure with the Knicks (via Wikipedia):

On August 29, 2011, the New York Knicks announced that Mike Woodson was hired as an assistant coach under head coach Mike D’Antoni. On March 14, 2012, Woodson was named interim head coach after D’Antoni’s resignation. In his debut as interim head coach that night, the Knicks crushed the Portland Trail Blazers by a score of 121 to 79. Woodson was named the full-time head coach of the Knicks on May 25, 2012. The Knicks ended the season strongly under Mike Woodson, going 18–6 for an overall season record of 36–30, though they would lose 4–1 against the Miami Heat.

In the 2012–13 season, the Knicks under Woodson compiled a record of 54–28 and secured the second seed in the Eastern Conference. They reached the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where they lost to the Indiana Pacers in six games.

The Knicks struggled to a 3–13 start in the 2013–2014 season and the team never fully recovered, finishing with a record of 37–45, and missing the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.

On April 21, 2014, Woodson was fired from the New York Knicks head coaching position along with his entire coaching staff after two and a half seasons

Expect more updates on the other assistant coaches in the next few weeks. Supposedly there will be a variety of coaches on the staff, and I’m sure Rose, Thibs, and the rest of the staff will work together to create a strong mix of offensive, defensive, and player development coaches.

Even though Kenny Atkinson was my favorite candidate, I am very pleased with Tom. Honestly, I’m just glad it wasn’t Jason Kidd.

Lets take a look at Tom’s coaching career so far (via Wikipedia):

On August 30, 2007, Thibodeau was named associate head coach of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics hoped the hiring would boost their defense. Eventually, he helped the Celtics become the best defensive team in the league. On November 4, 2007, Thibodeau took over head coaching duties against the Toronto Raptors in place of Doc Rivers, who was unable to coach due to the death of his father earlier that day. Thibodeau led the Celtics to the best rating in several defensive categories in 2007-2008 and was a key factor in containing Kobe Bryant in the finals.

On June 2, 2010, Thibodeau interviewed with officials from the Bulls for their vacant head coach position. On June 23, he was confirmed as the Bulls’ head coach. Thibodeau was named the NBA Coach of the Year on May 1, 2011, after tying the record for most wins by a rookie head coach with 62. He also led the Bulls to their first 50-win season and first division title since the MJ era.

On March 19, 2012, Thibodeau became the fastest coach in NBA history to earn 100 career victories. He accomplished this in 130 games.

In Game 1 of the Bulls’ first-round series against the Sixers, Derrick Rose tore his ACL. Commenting on Thibodeau’s decision to leave Rose in the game, Bulls General Manager Gar Forman stated, “There is absolutely no issue there. It’s a playoff game.”

Thibodeau finished second to Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs in 2012 NBA Coach of the Year voting. The Bulls’ season was cut short after a 4–2 defeat by the 76ers.

Rose missed the entire 2012–13 season, but despite his absence, the Bulls finished 45-37, second in the Central Division (behind the Indiana Pacers) and 5th in their conference. They defeated the Brooklyn Nets 4-3 (after leading 3-1) in the first round of the playoffs and lost to the Miami Heat 4–1 in the next round.

Thibodeau finished third in 2014 NBA Coach of the Year voting. He led the second year straight Derrick Rose-less Bulls to the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls’ season ended with a 4-1 series loss to the fifth-seeded Wizards.

Tension between the Bulls’ front office and Thibodeau grew considerably over the 2014-15 season, which ended in a six-game series loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Shortly thereafter, on May 28, 2015, the Bulls decided to move in a different direction and let go of Thibodeau.

On April 20, 2016, it was announced that the Minnesota Timberwolves had hired Thibodeau as head coach and president of basketball operations. The Timberwolves had spent the better part of a decade in the NBA wilderness, having not made the playoffs since 2004. In his second season, the Timberwolves made their first playoff appearance in 14 years. Despite having success, the Timberwolves dismissed Thibodeau from his positions as head coach and president of basketball operations on January 6, 2019.

And now we are here, over a year later, with Thibs now becoming the Knicks 7th head coach since the 2012 season. Hopefully, he has kept his intensity and defensive schemes, while modernizing his offensive schemes and minute distribution.

Of course, the Knicks somehow and someway have to mess this up. I can’t explain how valuable and important the right coach is to helping a team succeed, and Kidd is just not the guy for this job. Kidd has a terrible stint with the Nets, and Giannis became a superstar after he was gone and the Bucks became contenders when he left as well. Thibs is a proven coach who has worked on his craft, Kidd has never proven to be a good coach. Even Kenny proved that he could take a below-par team and make them a winning team by growing his players into stars. 

I don’t know if this is a smokescreen, but I really pray it is. Thibs has long been considered the favorite, so I don’t know what happened/why a smokescreen is needed. My guess is that Dolan and Thibs are fighting over the contract details, and to put pressure on Thibs to accept, this report came out.  I know WWW is close with Kidd, and I know relationships are a big reason why we hired this front office, but for circumstances like this, you hire the best coach. 

Let’s just pray that the Knicks don’t also mess this whole situation up, which may look like they already have done.