It would appear that Plan B has been a success for Phil Jackson in his search for the next head coach of the New York Knicks. After missing out on his top choice, Steve Kerr, who went to the the Golden State Warriors, it appears the Knicks are finalizing a five-year, $25 million agreement with Derek Fisher to be the Knicks next head coach. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports was first with the news.
Derek Fisher is finalizing an agreement on a 5-year, $25 million deal to become the Knicks coach, league sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 9, 2014
The 39-year-old Fisher spent this past season playing with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Guard has played 18 NBA seasons with the Thunder, Warriors, Utah Jazz, and under Phil Jackson with the Los Angeles Lakers. Fisher and Jackson won five NBA Championships together in Los Angeles.
With Fisher’s playing career ending just two weeks ago, he obviously has no coaching experience. With such a dynamic, the hiring of assistant coaches will be key, and there are already a number of qualified candidates in the mix according to Howard Beck. As expected the list includes former Lakers and Chicago Bulls who also played under Phil Jackson.
Fisher's staff is very likely to include Kurt Rambis. Others in mix: Rick Fox, Luke Walton, Bill Cartwright.
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) June 9, 2014
With this lineup of coaches, Jackson may be staying in the President’s box for the Knicks, but it is definitely his coaching philosophy that will be seen on the court at Madison Square Garden next season.
It would appear that the Thunder have given the Knicks permission to negotiate with Fisher. Last week, that was not the case when Phil Jackson was fined for tampering when he commented on Fisher being a candidate for the coaching job.
Main Photo by Kirby Lee via Getty Images.
