The New York Knicks' ongoing search for their next head coach has left few stones unturned. Boiled down, the process has involved reaching out to top candidates to judge their interest in the opening. Simple, right? However, those candidates being head coaches of other NBA teams has confused fans and reporters alike.

Reports surfaced Wednesday morning regarding the Dallas Mavericks' official denial of the Knicks' request to interview Jason Kidd. That isn't going to be the end of the team's pursuit of Kidd, per Newsday's Steve Popper.

The Knicks' front office, since Leon Rose became team president in 2020, isn't one to leave options unexplored. Continuing to investigate what it would take to get Kidd to New York is included. And ClutchPoints has learned that some of the team's options include coaches at the collegiate level.

The team is said to be continuing to look into those other candidates. Sources close to the situation tell ClutchPoints that the Knicks have reached out to the camps of NBA players on other teams regarding those coaches. The player camps are those of players who have experience under these potential candidates.

At least one of those coaching candidates is currently at the college level and has experience coaching NBA talent, having coached several players in the league during their time in the collegiate ranks.

Knicks' utilization of relationships could be a key factor in coaching search

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If the Knicks' pursuit of Kidd is unsuccessful, they'll continue to work their way down their list. But the team is collecting references as intensively as Rose, William Wesley, and the front office's connections are allowing for.

Great relationships with players like Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns proved crucial to the team's turnaround over the last five seasons. So did the front office's connections with coaches such as Tom Thibodeau and Johnnie Bryant. Those ties will again be a key part of the team's intellectual artillery throughout this process.

Whether or not the Knicks make a hire in the next day or week won't determine the quality of the hire. Just last offseason, the Los Angeles Lakers caught heat for what was viewed as a mishandling of their process after Connecticut coach Dan Hurley stayed in Storrs. But the consolation prize for missing out on Hurley was JJ Redick, who received five third-place votes for Coach of the Year.

And so the search continues. Time will tell if the process is looked back on as one of mad science or simply just madness.