Tom Thibodeau to Knicks odds: Big upset if Thibs not hired by New York as next coach

The 2019-20 NBA campaign will officially end for the downtrodden New York Knicks on Thursday when the NBA's Board of Governors approves a 22-team restart to the regular season for July 31 in Orlando. The Knicks were one of eight teams not invited as New York finished with a 21-45 record that was the league's sixth-worst. The franchise will have a new full-time head coach when the 2020-21 season starts likely around Christmas, and the clear-cut favorite on the NBA odds is Tom Thibodeau.

The Knicks fired well-respected David Fizdale in December following a 4-18 start and replaced him with Mike Miller, with New York going 17-27 under Miller. That's not the Mike Miller who played collegiately at Florida or in the NBA for several years.

This Mike Miller was a former head coach at Texas State and Eastern Illinois as well as the G-League Knicks. Miller was an assistant this year under Fizdale for the first time but wasn't even Fizdale's top assistant. That was Keith Smart, who was also fired. It's not thought Miller has much of a shot at the full-time gig, but the Knicks might insist any new coach keeps him on as an assistant.

Since James Dolan's first full season as owner of the Knicks in 1999-2000, the team has had 12 head coaches, tied for the most in the NBA over that span.

Now that the season is officially over, new team president Leon Rose (hired in March) can go hire whomever he wants, and Thibodeau is the -250 moneyline favorite via SportsLine oddsmakers. Thibs was ultra-successful from 2010-15 with the Chicago Bulls, and he helped end the Minnesota Timberwolves' 13-season streak of missing the playoffs in 2018.

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The guy can coach, as evidenced by his 352-246 record and six playoff trips in seven-plus seasons, but he wore out his welcome in both Chicago and Minneapolis and is known to play his top players WAY too many minutes and wear them down physically. Think Derrick Rose/Luol Deng.

Thibodeau says he has grown, though, and would bring a new perspective to his next job. He was a Knicks assistant from 1996-2004.

Leon Rose has very deep ties to Thibodeau, who became a client of Creative Artists Agency 10 years ago. Rose ran CAA's basketball department as one of the most powerful agents in the NBA before taking the Knicks job. Some reports out of the New York area are that Thibodeau already has made calls to assemble a staff.

Former Knicks point guard and Warriors coach Mark Jackson may get an interview and would jump at the job. Also likely to get a look will be ex-Nets coach Kenny Atkinson, who was surprisingly fired by Brooklyn in March even though the team was in the Eastern Conference playoff field (despite not having Kevin Durant all season and barely Kyrie Irving -- both of whom picked the Nets over the Knicks in free agency) and thus will be heading to Orlando.

Could the Knicks make history by hiring Spurs assistant Becky Hammon as the first-full time women's NBA coach? Not likely, but she will get a chance somewhere eventually.

Via SportsLine NBA oddsmakers: Who will be the next full-time Knicks head coach?

• Tom Thibodeau -250
• Kenny Atkinson +400
• Mark Jackson +500
• Tyronn Lue +800
• Mike Miller +900
• Jeff Van Gundy +1500
• Becky Hammon +2500