Knicks coaching search: New York denied permission to speak with Bulls' Billy Donovan, Hawks' Quin Snyder

New York has reportedly struck out on speaking with multiple sitting NBA coaches

Over a week after firing Tom Thibodeau, the New York Knicks' search for an experienced successor has hit some road blocks. One day after New York was rebuffed when asking permission to speak with Chris Finch (Minnesota Timberwolves) and Ime Udoka (Houston Rockets), according to ESPN's Shams Charania, the Knicks were also reportedly blocked from talking to Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks), Quin Snyder (Atlanta Hawks) and Billy Donovan (Chicago Bulls).

There was initially some reported "mutual intrigue" between Kidd and the Knicks, but that pairing quickly became increasingly unlikely, according to reports, with the belief that Kidd was hoping to leverage New York's interest into a long-term deal with Dallas. When the Knicks eventually made the formal request to speak with Kidd, Dallas denied it, as expected.

Kidd, 52, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018, spent the final year of his playing career (2012-13) with the Knicks and also played six-plus years with the then-New Jersey Nets. Kidd got his start as a head coach with the Brooklyn Nets in 2013-14 before four years coaching the Milwaukee Bucks.

After a two-year stint as a Los Angeles Lakers assistant included the 2020 NBA title, Kidd returned to a head-coaching role with the Mavericks in 2021-22. He is 179-149 (.546) in four seasons in Dallas. That included a run to the 2024 Finals. While the 2024-25 season was a whirlwind due to the Luka Dončiċ-Anthony Davis trade and Kyrie Irving's torn ACL, Dallas got a stunning but much-needed boost by winning the NBA Draft lottery and the opportunity to pick Duke star Cooper Flagg.

New York Knicks coaching search: Where things stand with Jason Kidd, other candidates out of the running

Sam Quinn

Snyder, Donovan off the board, too

Snyder, 58, has long been regarded as one of the NBA's premier offensive minds. Coaching the Utah Jazz from 2014-15 to 2021-22, Snyder accumulated a 372-264 record (.585) and helped Utah emerge as one of the league's most consistent forces, led first by Gordon Hayward and then Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.

During Snyder's time in Utah, only six teams had a better record. However, Utah never made it past the second round under Snyder, and after a first-round exit in the 2022 playoffs, the Jazz moved on from Mitchell, Gobert and Snyder.

The Hawks hired Snyder more than halfway through the 2022-23 season, and he has posted an 86-99 record (.465) in Atlanta.

Donovan, 60, played his lone NBA season in 1987-88 with the Knicks. Donovan coached Florida to back-to-back NCAA championships in 2006 and 2007 as part of a lengthy career coaching the Gators. He jumped to the NBA in 2015 with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he went 243-147 (.608 win pct) in five seasons there.

After the Thunder flamed out in the first round of the bubble playoffs, though, Donovan and Oklahoma City parted ways. Donovan moved onto Chicago, where he has a 195-205 record (.488 win pct) in five seasons. While the record isn't sterling, the Bulls "value Donovan highly for his coaching acumen, communication skills and ability to connect with players and all members of organization," according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network.

Minnesota, Houston say no to Finch, Udoka requests

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.

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 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.