The New York Knicks made perhaps their most important move of the offseason, wasting no time and sacking Jeff Hornacek from his head coaching job, setting up a clean slate for a new regime in The Big Apple.
The front office also fired assistant coach Kurt Rambis, who had worn players thin during the last few seasons, leaving no remnants of Phil Jackson's tenure in the coaching ranks.
Yet besides the popular candidates like hometown favorite Mark Jackson, G League extraordinaire Jerry Stackhouse, former Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale, and even former Milwaukee Bucks bench boss Jason Kidd, the Knicks are reportedly eyeing two active NBA coaches in the L.A. Clippers' Doc Rivers and Toronto Raptors' Dwane Casey, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.
Rivers managed to hold together what was considered a depleted roster after the departure of Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford, and J.J. Redick, survived a slew of injuries, and even adopted some trade pieces after the team dealt away franchise star Blake Griffin — a bang up job, despite falling just shy of making the postseason in a merciless Western Conference.
Casey has shown the ultimate adaptability, transforming the iso-heavy culture in The North and adopting a free-flowing, ball-sharing offense that led the team to the top spot in the Eastern Conference for the first time in franchise history.
While both of these coaches are currently employed, Rivers is rumored to contemplate avoiding a rebuild in Los Angeles, now with no front office decision-making powers after ceding them to Lawrence Frank. Casey's availability is fairly more speculative, as the Knicks are keeping an eye out for him in case the Raptors see a quick exit from the postseason.
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