Player development was said to be one of their key priorities as the Knicks searched for a head coach.
And now Mike Brown is close to putting somebody in charge of player development, tapping veteran Billy Lange for the important position, a league source confirmed.
Lange, 53, who spent the past six seasons as the head coach of St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, has served as a coach in college or the NBA since 1996.
He’s rooted in the Philly area, like many in the Knicks organization, and served as a Villanova assistant under former coach Jay Wright, though well before Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges joined the program.
The Knicks are hiring Billy Lange for a player development role. Getty Images
More recently, Lange oversaw player development for the Sixers from 2013-19 — a period spanning The Process — while helping groom youngsters Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Jerami Grant, Michael Carter-Williams, T.J. McConnell, Nerlens Noel and Jahlil Okafor, among others.
With the Knicks, the youngsters include Pacôme Dadiet, Tyler Kolek, Kevin McCullar Jr., Mohamed Diawara and Ariel Hukporti. All were drafted in the past two years, but none higher than 25th and most in the second round.
Last season under Tom Thibodeau, the rookies played sparingly and were all out of the rotation in the playoffs. After Thibodeau was fired, the team emphasized player development and expanding the rotation during interviews with coaching candidates, a source said.
As it stands, the Knicks have a top nine rotation set and a slot open to sign a veteran free agent. But injuries happen and rest days happen. That’s where development becomes more important, so long as the young players have enough talent to capitalize on opportunities.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Summer league in July wasn’t encouraging for Kolek, in particular, as he struggled as the featured guard.