If the Knicks have their eye on Tom Thibodeau, they might need to beat out at least two other teams for his services.

The Nets and Houston Rockets will have "strong interest" in hiring Thibodeau, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post, who adds that Nets stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are both fans of Thibodeau.

Brooklyn will be searching for a new head coach after parting ways with Kenny Atkinson, and Houston could be in need with Mike D'Antoni's contract up after this season.

Marc Stein of the New York Times had reported in April that Thibodeau was "believed to be solely a Knicks candidate."

The Knicks will be looking for a new head coach if they don't remove the interim tag from Mike Miller, and SNY's Ian Begley recently reported that several coaches and people with a vested interest in who the new Knicks president will hire as coach believe it will be Thibodeau.

According to Begley, John Calipari should also not be ruled out -- despite his public statements on the matter -- due to his close relationship with Rose.

In addition to Thibodeau and Calipari, other potential Knicks candidates include Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson, and Atikinson.

The 62-year-old Thibodeau, who was an assistant with the Knicks from 1996 to 2004 (initially under Van Gundy), served as an assistant with the Houston Rockets (2004-2007) and Boston Celtics (2007-2010). He was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 2010-2015 and head coach/president of the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2016-19, where things ended abruptly.

While the Knicks could have their eye on Thibodeau, Van Gundy would likely have interest in the job if he believes the situation is right, according to Begley.

Popular in the Community