Despite the widespread speculation that Tom Thibodeau’s time with the New York Knicks is running out, it appears as though team president Leon Rose isn’t letting the head coach go anywhere.
A report from Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer revealed that the Knicks are expected to keep the head coach beyond the 2021-22 season.
This year has seen New York regress significantly after making a surprising run to the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference last season while making their first playoff appearance in eight years.
Following a five-game defeat to the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks came back with high expectations — only to fall woefully short. They currently sit 5.5 games out of the 10th and final Eastern Conference play-in spot with a 28-40 record.
Julius Randle has struggled to maintain the headlining form that made him an All-Star last season while the team remains in desperate need of a true point guard to lead the backcourt. The signing of Kemba Walker did not pan out as expected and his Knicks tenure is likely over after Thibodeau decided to bench him for the final 23 games of the season.
The team also whiffed on the signing of Evan Fournier — a puzzling decision especially after a report came out that DeMar DeRozan wanted to play at Madison Square Garden.
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Thibodeau himself has been unable to spark the same fire that made New York the best defensive team in the NBA last season and has since been plagued by second-half swoons and late-game collapses.
All the while, he remained fiercely loyal to his rotation of players that oftentimes took time away from younger contributors. That included forward Cam Reddish, whom the Knicks gave up a first-round pick and Kevin Knox for. The Duke product played sparingly — just a little over 14 minutes per game — before being shut down for the season due to a shoulder injury.
Constant Knicks misfortunes and disappointments prompted owner James Dolan to leave the veteran head coach’s fate up to Rose — the man who hired Thibodeau in the first place. Needless to say, the 64-year-old is coming back to oversee an offseason that is expected to feature plenty of roster turnover.
