The Knicks would be the ideal landing spot for Tom Thibodeau, but there is the small matter that precludes Thibodeau, fired by the Bulls on Thursday, from coming back to the team where he was an assistant coach when the Knicks used to be relevant and competing in the playoffs on an annual basis.
Derek Fisher currently holds the coaching reins in the Garden and isn’t going anywhere, even if during the Knicks’ 17-win season he didn’t seem cut out for the position as a first-time coach. But when you’ve got Phil Jackson watching your back, apparently you can do no wrong and even survive the franchise’s worst season in its history.
Fisher will remain the head coach as long as Jackson presides over the mess he’s created as Jim Dolan’s top basketball executive. That might be only one more season -- the Knicks and Jackson can both opt out of his five-year, $60-million deal next March -- but this is Fisher’s show, for now.
Too bad because Thibodeau is one of the NBA’s top coaches, even if he ended up paying for the Bulls’ second-round ouster against the eventual Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Bulls didn’t just fire the coach who gave them their best five-year run since the Michael Jordan teams won six titles in the 1990s, and who in his five seasons compiled a record of 255-139, a .647 winning percentage that ranks seventh in NBA history among coaches with at least 200 games.
Taking the low road, Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf used the opportunity to hold Thibodeau accountable for the team’s well-known dysfunction. That was no surprise, since Reinsdorf has always sided with his GM tandem of Gar Forman and John Paxson when they privately sniped at Thibodeau for playing players too many minutes and regularly objected to the stringent practice demands he placed on players.
Thibodeau’s old-school ways of putting a premium on practices to gain continuity in games was at the heart of the front office’s complaints. When Forman and Paxson ran off Ron Adams, one of Thibodeau’s top aides, after the 2013-14 season, and then tried to force Thibodeau to hire an offensive assistant of their choosing, that was the beginning of the end. So Forman and Paxson ended up winning, even if the Bulls came off looking like losers.
"When everyone is on the same page, trust develops and teams can grow and succeed together,’’ Reinsdorf said in a statement released by the Bulls. “Unfortunately, there has been a departure from this culture. To ensure that the Chicago Bulls can continue to grow and succeed, we have decided that a change in the head coaching position is required."
The favorite to succeed Thibodeau is former Bulls player and current Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg. As for Thibodeau, he’d love to coach the Knicks one day and maybe that still can happen. He was in New York for seven seasons under Jeff Van Gundy and knows what it takes to succeed in the NBA’s toughest market.
But he's free to move to a team where his coaching will be valued and appreciated and he’s going right to the top of the list of the best available coaches. Says who? The No.1 Bulls fan.President Barack Obama, hosting a Twitter chat about the global climate, was asked about the Bulls’ decision to fire Thibodeau, with two years and about $9 million left on his deal.
He said: "love thibs and think he did a great job. Sorry to see him go but expect he will be snatched up soon by another team.’’
The New Orleans Pelicans will likely look to Thibodeau as a candidate as they continue searching for Monty Williams’ successor. Williams was fired after the team made the playoffs this past season and was swept out of the first round by the West's eventual champ, Golden State. New Orleans has already interviewed Thibodeau’s former boss in New York, Jeff Van Gundy.
Although there’s a perception around the NBA that Thibodeau, a tireless worker, is not going to be able to sit out an NBA season, that is the furthest from the truth. As he’s told close associates, he’d be very comfortable taking a hiatus for the 2015-16 season and returning when there might be a more attractive job than the several that are now open.
In addition to New Orleans, which features rising superstar Anthony Davis, Orlando and Denver have coaching vacancies. But those two teams lack an ultra-talented player on the level of Davis, who finished fifth in the MVP voting in just his third NBA season.
Whatever happens, Thibodeau will be in high demand. Maybe one day by the Knicks.
Longtime New York columnist Mitch Lawrence continues to write about pro basketball, as he’s done for the last 22 years. His columns for NBCNewYork.com on the Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and the NBA, along with other major sports, will appear twice weekly. Follow him on Twitter.
