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Over a week after firing Tom Thibodeau, the New York Knicks‘ search for an experienced successor has hit some road blocks. New York requested permission to speak with Chris Finch of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets and was rebuffed in both instances, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Finch, 55, owns a 209-160 (.566) record in four-plus seasons with Minnesota and has led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals each of the past two years — an impressive accomplishment for a franchise that had only been to one conference finals prior to that.
It’s not hard to see why the Knicks requested to talk with Finch. He has directed one of the league’s best defenses for the past two seasons. The Knicks were a slightly above average defensive outfit during the regular season but struggled in the Eastern Conference finals against the Indiana Pacers.
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Sam Quinn
Udoka, 47, played for the Knicks in 2005-06 and coached the Boston Celtics in 2021-22, making him plenty familiar to New York. Udoka led the Celtics to the Finals in his lone season with Boston before the organization suspended him the entire 2022-23 season due to “violations of team policy.” Udoka reportedly had an improper relationship with a team employee.
After the Celtics elevated interim coach Joe Mazzulla to permanent coach, Udoka became the coach in Houston, which went 41-41 in his debut season and 52-30 this season, making the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20.
The Knicks being denied conversations with Finch and Udoka comes shortly after the news that a potential pairing with Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd has become increasingly unlikely, according to reports. The Knicks have not formally requested to interview Kidd, but Dallas would likely block that request.
The Knicks won 51 games in 2024-25, their most in over a decade, but lost in the Eastern Conference finals and face a pivotal offseason given the massive resources they’ve dedicated to the roster with win-now trades for Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges.