New York Knicks: 5 Long-Term Replacements For Derek Fisher
Now that the New York Knicks have fired head coach Derek Fisher, here are the five best candidates to replace him for the long-term.
With Monday’s firing of head coach Derek Fisher, the New York Knicks officially gave in to the creeping sense of dysfunction that’s settled over the team over the last few weeks.
Though the Knicks are vastly improved from last year’s 17-win team, New York’s recent five-game skid — including nine of their last 10 — prompted team president Phil Jackson to act, replacing his former point guard and disciple from his Lakers head coaching days with interim coach Kurt Rambis.
At 23-31, the Knicks have fallen well outside the Eastern Conference playoff picture and Fisher’s incident involving Matt Barnes, poor communication and a fractured coaching staff reportedly led to his termination. Fisher leaves his first head coaching gig with a 40-96 record (.294), the 17th worst win percentage in NBA history among those who have coached at least 100 games.
The question is, where do the New York Knicks go from here?
On the one hand, Fisher certainly wasn’t a Coach of the Year candidate. Though he made strides this season with his rotations and all-around adeptness as a coach, he probably was never the long-term answer. On the other hand, what realistic expectations did Jackson have for a team built around a 31-year-old Carmelo Anthony, 20-year-old rookie Kristaps Porzingis and spare parts?
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The Knicks may not be built for the playoffs, but now they’ll be looking for a head coach who can extract as much talent as possible from this current roster after Fisher failed to successfully incorporate the Triangle offense.
Unfortunately, it appears as though Jackson isn’t going to abandon the Triangle anytime soon, even if he said it’s not a prerequisite for the job. There are plenty of excellent head coaching candidates available, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see Jackson replace Fisher with another one of the branches from his NBA coaching tree.
Bearing all this in mind, who are the likely and/or most deserving candidates for the New York Knicks’ head coaching job? Here’s a look at the top five candidates, with a few honorable mentions thrown in.
Next: Honorable Mentions