The hiring of Thibodeau is no surprise to Knicks fans, as the experienced coach was the pioneer of the entire hiring process. Thibs was assistant to many teams, including the Knicks, before taking up the post of head coach of the Bulls from 2010-15. There, he trained a dynamic trio of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Luol Deng who stayed on top of the East for several years. He left the show in Minnesota, resuming basketball operations in the process but was released in 2019.
Thibodeau appears to be starting a new script in his basketball legacy, taking the place of a Knicks team that has a surplus of young talent and desperately needs to bring a competitor back to Garden. With RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and another lottery coming up, I think Thibodeau is the perfect guy to lead the youth movement in New York.
With a strong defensive mentality and a winning pedigree, he will demand a lot from his young core. Although Thibodeau will no doubt bring his favorite coaching staff, I think hiring Mike Miller and Mike Woodson to the top of the staff would be a fantastic move to help the young core too.
The key to getting the Knicks back to a league team is preparing the draw and leading a confident and successful head coach. The narrative that any off-season that can sign one of the great free-agent goals will never work until their local talent gives players a reason to join the team. I think Tom Thibodeau is the right guy to shoot the script in New York.