The New York Knicks plan to interview at least 8-10 candidates before making a final decision on their next head coach, according to SNY's Ian Begley. A number of names have already been thrown around, and here are the 10 best options (apologies to Pat Delany and Will Hardy).

10. Chris Fleming

The Chicago Bulls assistant under Jim Boylen is expected to get some consideration and be one of those the franchise will interview. Unfortunately, he's way down in the pecking order as a rather young assistant in the league.

Fleming broke into the NBA in 2015 as an assistant for the Denver Nuggets and joined the Bulls this season after three years with the Brooklyn Nets.

9. Ime Udoka

Udoka, best known for his time with the San Antonio Spurs as a former player and coach, had a cup of tea with the Knicks in 2006 when he first came to the league.

Udoka has seven years of coaching experience next to Gregg Popovich (2012-19) and another with fellow Pop disciple Brett Brown. Still, he's an outside candidate, even if his player development skills helped bring along the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Danny Green, and Dejounte Murray.

8. Mike Woodson

A former Knicks coach, Woodson spent two and a half seasons in The Big Apple after taking over as an interim coach for Mike D'Antoni. Woody didn't have a long stint at the helm, but he did manage a .579 winning percentage during his 188 games as coach of the team.

Mike Woodson
ClutchPoints

He led the 2012-13 Knicks to the Eastern Conference Semifinals before missing the playoffs altogether the next season, leading to his dismissal. New York hasn't been back to the playoffs since.

7. Mark Jackson & Jeff Van Gundy

Jackson, a Brooklyn native, has been tied to the Knicks for quite a long time, but he has yet to make the leap back into coaching since he was fired from his very first coaching gig with the Golden State Warriors in 2014.

Jackson has grown adept at his job as an ESPN color commentator, and the same could be said about his partner Jeff Van Gundy, who was also linked to the job at some point. Nevertheless, these two MCs are a lot more likely to keep their grip on the mic than to take a job with the Knicks.

6. Becky Hammon

A longtime student of Gregg Popovich, the former WNBA All-Star point guard was the first woman to cross over from the WNBA hardwood to the NBA sidelines. She has gained plenty of respect during her six years as an assistant and could make waves by becoming the first female NBA coach, especially for a team like the Knicks.

Becky Hammon, Knicks head coach

Hammon has been known to have an eye for player development, and that's just what the Knicks will need with the likes of RJ Barrett and Kevin Knox still in a fluid state of progress.

5. Mike Brown

The former Cleveland Cavaliers coach who now works as Steve Kerr's right-hand man with the Golden State Warriors has raised some interest from the Knickerbockers, as the organization is hoping to bring him in for an interview.

The 50-year-old coached the Cavs for five years and then the Lakers for another before returning to the Cavs for one season. Following a two-year hiatus, he linked up with the Warriors as a replacement for Luke Walton, who took the Lakers job in 2016.

Brown is experienced and a personable presence on the sidelines. Known for his humor and lighthearted approach, he might just be what the Knicks need to pull out of a long rut in the standings.

4. Mike Miller

Miller took over as the interim coach of the New York Knicks on Dec. 6 after David Fizdale was fired following a 4-18 star. Since then, Miller has coached the team to a 17-27 win-loss mark, focusing on player development and trying to bring together a jumbled team, despite some poor collaboration from the front office.

Mike Miller has been in the business for a while, but most of his experience was in college before he transitioned into the G League for six years and then getting the call to lead the bench behind Fizdale. The players like him as a coach, and he could very well bring a culture of accountability if the Knicks can give him a full season to get his system in order.

3. Jason Kidd

Kidd finished his playing days as a member of the Knicks and wasted no time trading the uniform for the suit, returning the following season as the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets. While that didn't fare well for him, his experience as a coach of the Milwaukee Bucks and his time as a lead assistant with the Lakers should be strong qualifiers to net him the job.

Jason Kidd, Lakers

Kidd had built a reputation of being tough with his young players, but he has had time to grow from that experience, making him a young candidate worth watching out for.

2. Kenny Atkinson

The Knicks organization has shown “legitimate internal support” for the former Brooklyn Nets coach, who agreed to part ways with the Nets once it became evident he wasn't part of their plans for next season.

Atkinson did admirable work in his four seasons with the Nets, tasked with bringing a rebuilding team to the forefront. He would have a very similar job with the Knicks, who have been lottery-bound for the vast part of the last decade.

Known as a disciplinarian, Atkinson could mend a lot of the Knicks' woes by implementing his system upon arrival. The 53-year-old spent four seasons with the Knicks (2008-12) and is a native New Yorker, hence the strong pull with the team's brass.

1. Tom Thibodeau

Simply put, this is Tom Thibodeau's job to lose. The defensive specialist made his head coaching debut with the Chicago Bulls in 2010, coaching them for five seasons before his exit.

Following a one-year hiatus, he was hired as head coach and president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Timberwolves, a stint that ended after two and a half seasons. A brilliant defensive-minded coach, Thibodeau could flip the script on a Knicks team that has been hideous defensively for the better part of the last two decades.

He owns a winning percentage of .589 in his seven-plus seasons as a head coach and won the Coach of the Year in 2011 after winning an NBA title in 2008 as an assistant for Doc Rivers with the Boston Celtics.