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A top candidate has emerged in the New York Knicks head coach search in place of Jason Kidd, according to a recent report. The pressure is on Leon Rose and company, especially after the front office's decision to fire Tom Thibodeau off of an Eastern Conference Finals appearance. The Knicks have to get this next hire right for a core that didn't seem to quite gel last season. In all likelihood, New York will not be making any blockbuster trades this offseason, but it can add some role players during free agency.
While the defense can be cleaned up, there is only so much New York can do on that end with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the floor. There needs to be another offensive gear for a Knicks team that was deteriorating on that end in 2025. The front office will likely look for a more offensively innovative head coach, and longtime New York sportswriter Frank Isola recently gave the latest update on this search.
“Jason Kidd was the No. 1 target – and until the Knicks name a coach you can’t entirely rule him out – but Mike Brown is emerging as the front runner.”
Mike Brown has served as an NBA head coach four times in his career, twice with the Cleveland Cavaliers and once each with the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings. The 55-year-old has an impressive resume, having won four titles as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors and been named Coach of the Year twice with two separate teams. Most recently, Brown showed a new offensive layer to his style with the Sacramento Kings and broke the NBA's longest playoff drought in 2023.
In particular, the duo of De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis hit a new gear in Brown's free-flowing, elbow-oriented offense. The constant off-ball movement that these Kings teams executed daily is the kind of system that Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby can thrive in. While Karl-Anthony Towns is not the passer Sabonis is, his ability to space the floor is an ideal trait for Brown's offense. The pick-and-pop is also a set that Brown has thrived with in the past, which is something the Knicks didn't try to do much under Thibodeau.
Overall, while New York fans may not be thrilled with the initial hiring of Brown, he could be an ideal fit. The fans might initially look at the fact that the longtime head coach has been fired four times as a reason why he wouldn't be an upgrade over Thibodeau. However, as we've seen in years past, personnel and fit have matters significantly for the Knicks. There's a chance Brown is the ideal fit.
