Here's our weekly Knicks mailbag with SNY's NBA Insider Ian Begley...
@kickzjilla: Best coaching candidate for this young group?
Kenny Atkinson has a great track record as a coach who can develop young players. But I don't think the development record of the other candidates should be overlooked. The Knicks believe Mike Miller did an excellent job developing players with their G League team; Tom Thibodeau has plenty of developmental success stories to tell (Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson, for example); Mike Woodson turned one of the youngest teams in the NBA into a playoff contender in Atlanta. So when you talk about the young Knicks, the easy answer to the question above is Atkinson. But don't dismiss the track records of the other known candidates. Also, a player development staff is only as good as the people hired around the head coach. So the coaching and training staff under the Knicks' next head coach will play key roles in the development -- or lack thereof -- of the organization's young players.
@The3rdFerd: What does the current list of coaching candidates say about the possible direction Rose wants the organization to go in?
I'm not sure if you can draw a strong conclusion about the direction Leon Rose wants to take based on the known candidates. With Atkinson and, to a lesser degree, Miller, you could conclude that the Knicks want to go with young players. With Thibodeau and Woodson, you'd conclude that they want to have a veteran group. With that said, my prediction is that there will be a significant veteran presence on the team regardless of who the Knicks choose as their next head coach I'm not suggesting that Rose will build a team built to win immediately, but my guess is that the Knicks will bring in vets to try to mentor the young players and to be competitive in 2020-21.
@KendrickAlmar_: How soon will the Knicks select their coach?
I don't have a definitive timeline, but I assume they will get it done within the next few weeks. If the Bulls and Timberwolves start to search for new coaches, the Knicks will have competition. But the resumption of the NBA season probably helps the Knicks' coaching search. Brooklyn and Houston -- who some expect to be in the market for a new head coach -- will be playing in Disney World in August. So both clubs won't start their head-coaching search until their seasons conclude.
@jaysweat29: The Knicks' coaching candidates are an absolute DISASTER. I hate every name on the list. We should make a call to Bill Self and ask him what it would take to get him to leave Kansas
Everyone's entitled to their opinion. It's worth pointing out here that Bill Self has regularly shot down rumors that he would leave Kansas for the NBA. But I wonder if some NCAA coaches are more willing to make the jump to the NBA due to the different avenues available to top high school prospects (G League, overseas).
@NYCitee: What do you think about Mike Woodson being interviewed by the Knicks?
I think it makes a lot of sense. Coaches are ultimately judged on wins and losses. Woodson is the only Knick coach to win a playoff series since 2000. He took a Knicks team struggling under Mike D'Antoni in 2011, finished that season 18-6 and created positive momentum heading into 2012-13. That season, he won 54 games, the Atlantic Division title and was, one could argue, a J.R. Smith elbow from a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. That season, the Knicks relied heavily on the 3-point shot (before most of the rest of the league was doing so) and Carmelo Anthony was a legitimate MVP candidate at power forward.
There are people who think Woodson lucked into playing Anthony at power forward because Amar'e Stoudemire got hurt. But I think, even without the injury, the club was prepared to play Stoudemire in a more limited role in an attempt to keep him healthy. Would the Knicks have continued with their small ball lineups in 2013-14 if the personnel were the same? That's unclear.
Jason Kidd retired in the 2013 offseason. The Knicks' trade for Andrea Bargnani in the summer of 2013 didn't work out. Most of the young players on the 2013-14 roster who replaced the veterans from the previous season (Kurt Thomas, Marcus Camby) didn't impact winning. The 2013-14 Knicks were also in the top 10 in games missed due to injury. When fully healthy, they went 16-4 to finish the season and missed the playoffs by a narrow margin. The club won 37 games -- something no Knicks team has accomplished since Woodson left.
Also, from a development perspective, Woodson's Hawks teams improved their win total in each of his six seasons, culminating in a 53-win season in 2009-10. He's won in the NBA and he's won in New York. This isn't to suggest Woodson is immune to criticism, but let's not act like it doesn't make sense to interview him for the job.
@JarrettSpector: Is there a legitimate chance at all that Mike Woodson could get the Knicks HC job?
Thibodeau is the favorite heading in to interviews but things can change during the interview/negotiation process. If the Knicks don't hire Woodson as head coach, I can see him being a strong candidate for an assistant coaching position on a staff. Same goes for Miller.
@DaRealBootum: What is a con of hiring Kenny Atkinson?
I don't know that there is a glaring con here. I guess you could look at what went wrong in Brooklyn and point the finger partially at Atkinson. He lost some players in the locker room at the end. I assume the players who started tuning him out would give you a few cons about Atkinson's coaching. But, from the outside, I don't see something glaring that you could point to as a con for Atkinson. I know Nets fans -- and probably players -- took issue with his rotations and lineups. So maybe that's one, but it isn't a glaring red flag. I don't see anything overt that would cause a team in the early stages of a rebuild to have reservations about Atkinson.
Video: Is Kenny Atkinson in play for Knicks head coach?
@The_Cooler: Jerry Stackhouse would be a fantastic choice for coach. Player development track record (Fred Van Vleet, Pascal Siakam), comes from a winning culture under Masai Ujiri. Thoughts?
Stackhouse seems to be a tremendous coach who, you'd assume, would have the respect of any current player who knows anything about his career. Stackhouse and Rose know one another from Rose's days as a player agent, so there is a connection there. I wouldn't be surprised if the Knicks interviewed Stackhouse given his talent as a coach and connection to Rose.
@The_Cooler: The 2021 NBA Draft Class is said to be excellent. Would it make sense to keep Mike Miller for one more year and just tank and play the kids? Knicks failed to properly tank in 2003 and missed out on D Wade, LeBron and Chris Bosh. They missed out on Steph Curry by one pick in 2009. Why not go all in (on a tank) and guarantee themselves a top 5 pick? I don't see Thibs willing to tank.
I understand this sentiment. But I think there are some drawbacks to the approach. If you are keeping Miller solely to tank for the 2020-21 season, it has the potential to create issues in the locker room. If players know they are part of a tank job and are playing for a coach who won't be there next season, that could hurt Miller's ability to hold them accountable. I think this approach makes sense if you have a coach -- Miller or someone else -- under contract for multiple seasons.
ON THE NETS' COACHING SEARCH
@sck8182: Who are your top picks for Nets and Knicks head coaching jobs?
I don't have a dog in the fight in either case, but my best guess is that the Knicks will end up with Thibodeau and the Nets end up with Ty Lue or Mark Jackson.
@PistolP_16: Is Ty Lue the front runner for the Nets head coaching job?
I don't know, but my guess is he and Jackson are among the top candidates if the team doesn't bring back interim head coach Jacque Vaughn.
WE HEAR FROM SOME ANGRY KNICKS FANS EACH WEEK. THE ANGER, OBVIOUSLY, IS UNDERSTANDABLE. HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES
@BonDoingNumbers: Where do I begin with the Knicks…
@Kylemclovin1: When are the Knicks going to be good again?
@SportsMasterDan Do I have Knicks issues? How long do you have?
@JohnTorresII Knicks issues, where do I start?
@mikelly_12 Please write a thesis on why they are bad. Hope this was specific and original enough
I've been covering the team for nearly 10 seasons, so I get the pessimism and the anger. On the court, this organization has won just one playoff series since 2000. The Knicks' off-the-court issues have created a negative perception of the franchise -- for some fans and players. So I totally understand why you'd assume the Knicks are going to be bad by default.
Just my opinion: when a new president/GM/coach takes over, that person gets the benefit of the doubt. Rose, his new hires and his head coach shouldn't be associated with the mistakes of past regimes or past mistakes made by owner James Dolan.
Rose and those he brings in should be judged on the decisions they make and not on the decisions that preceded them. If the Knicks aren't showing significant progress by the start of the 2022-23 season, it's totally fair to knock Rose and the people he has hired, in my opinion. But I think, initially, they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
Quick Hitters
@ASAPBuzzy Do the Nets still have a top-three culture?
We all know Brooklyn's culture changed when the club signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. I know your question is satirical, but I have no idea where one would rank the Nets' culture right now. In general, I think the term 'culture' gets overused by NBA media and fans. No one will be critiquing the Nets' culture if they win a title in the Durant/Irving era.
@DannyLivingston: Is Kenny Wooten a keeper? Seems like a natural Knick fan favorite
Wooten is under contract for next season on a two-way deal. So he will likely be here next season. Will he get NBA minutes? We'll see.
@c3ddy8913: Do you think the Knicks can trade for CP3 and add Drummond with Mark Jackson?
It depends on where the cap lands and what Andre Drummond does with his player option, but I don't think the Knicks will have the cap space/assets to acquire both players.
Thanks for your questions, everyone. Much appreciated. If I didn't answer your question here or in a video, I will try my best to get to it in a future mailbag or video.
Also, a reader on Twitter named @louamundsonhive has written a book of poems. The proceeds will go to families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two black Americans killed by police recently.