In the aftermath of the New York Knicks relieving Tom Thibodeau of his duties, multiple media reports named Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka as a desired candidate.

As things stand, Udoka is midway through a four-year contract that he signed in April 2023 to coach the Rockets.

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Ian Begley, a longtime Knicks reporter with SNY, adds more:

Marc Stein reported late Tuesday that Ime Udoka and Jason Kidd are two coaches who are said to intrigue the Knicks. Udoka is a name that I’d heard as well. To hire Udoka, the Knicks would have to get permission from Houston and give the Rockets compensation to let Udoka out of his deal.

Short of Udoka openly campaigning for the New York job, and there has been no indication of that, there’s no reason to think the Rockets would consider such an arrangement.

The Rockets have improved significantly in Udoka’s two seasons with the team, and he just finished third in 2024-25 Coach of the Year voting. He’s under contract for multiple seasons moving forward and is viewed internally as a foundational piece. Thus, there is zero interest from the team in parting ways.

Granted, if the Knicks were willing to pay a high price via trade and Udoka was to indicate that he’d be looking elsewhere upon the expiration of his deal, it could make sense to take the assets — as opposed to the risk of eventually losing him for no compensation. But, again, there is no indication of that being the case. Udoka is a Portland native, so New York is actually further from his West Coast roots than Houston is.

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More realistically, the interest from the Knicks could perhaps be used by Udoka and his representatives in eventual talks regarding a contract extension. Salaries for NBA coaches have risen in the two-plus years since Udoka signed his initial deal with the Rockets, and coaches rarely enter the final “lame duck” year of their contracts. Thus, at some point prior to the 2026-27 season, it’s likely that Udoka and the Rockets will enter into a new round of negotiations.

In that context, interest from other teams around the league can be useful for Udoka’s market, and it helps to be publicly viewed as desirable.

More: Houston’s Ime Udoka finishes third for 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Report: With coaching vacancy, Knicks intrigued by Houston’s Ime Udoka