A very familiar name has emerged as the betting favorite to become the next New York Knicks head coach.
That is, if the Phoenix Suns will not make him their next head coach.
Cleveland Cavaliers associate head coach Johnnie Bryant, who left the Knicks last offseason, is the odds-on favorite at +240 to succeed the recently fired Tom Thibodeau, per offshore online sportsbook Bovada.
Bryant is one of the two finalists in the Suns’ coaching search. He is going up against fellow Cavaliers assistant coach Jordan Ott for the job, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“Both Bryant and Ott will meet with Suns owner Mat Ishbia, CEO Josh Bartelstein and general manager Brian Gregory in Michigan later this week, sources said,” Charania reported.
Trailing Bryant in Bovada’s long betting list of next Knicks head coach are current Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson (+400), Mike Budenholzer (+950), Knicks legend Patrick Ewing (+950), Boston Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell (+950) and James Borrego (+950).
Other coaches in the list include Frank Vogel (+1100), Miami Heat assistant coach Chris Quinn (+1400), former Villanova coach Jay Wright (+1400), ex-Knicks star Mark Jackson +1400 and ex-Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni (+2000).
There are also long shots on the list which include WNBA coach Becky Hammon (+2500), who was once took the heat from Knicks fanbase for saying Jalen Brunson isn’t a 1A star on a championship team. Former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy, Golden State Warriors assistant coach Jerry Stackhouse are tied with Hammon at +2500.
Former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Adrian Griffin (+2800), Minnesota Timberwolves lead assistant Micah Nori (+2800) and ESPN’s “First Take” host and Knicks fan Stephen A. Smith (+6000) complete the betting list.
Who is Johnnie Bryant?
Getty Assistant coach Johnnie Bryant of the Cleveland Cavaliers restrains head coach Kenny Atkinson after Atkinson was ejected. Bryant is a finalist in the Phoenix Suns coaching search.
The 39-year-old rising tactician started as a player development coach with the Utah Jazz in 2012. There, he forged strong relationships with the franchise stars Gordon Hayward and Donovan Mitchell.
When Thibodeau got the Knicks coaching job, Bryant was brought in to become his top assistant despite having no prior relationship with the veteran head coach. At the time, Bryant was an up-and-coming coach who was being groomed to become a head coach. The move was seen in league circles as a potential backup plan in case the Thibodeau hiring goes awry.
But as the Knicks succeed under Thibodeau, Bryant left the Knicks and joined the Cavaliers under Atkinson in a lateral move but one that reunited him with Mitchell.
After Bryant left, the Knicks promoted Rick Brunson, Jalen Brunson‘s father, to become the team’s associate head coach.
Like Thibodeau, Bryant is represented by Creative Artists Agency, which was once helmed by Leon Rose before taking over as the Knicks’ team president.
What’s Next for Knicks After Firing Tom Thibodeau?
Charania said the Knicks might be looking for a coach who will trust his bench more. Under Thibodeau, the Knicks’ bench averaged the fewest points and minutes this past season. Yet he made it work and got the Knicks to the doorstep of the NBA Finals with a top-heavy roster.
“I’m not sure yet which direction they go, but you think about the issues that they probably had with them, you think about what Mikal Bridges said early in the year, and I think a comment like that rings true,” Charania said on “The Pat McAfee Show” shortly after he broke the news of Thibodeau’s firing. “Like a guy that you know might trust his bench more, a guy that might be a little bit more lenient based on his principles and what he wants to enact.
“I mean, clearly, the way Tom Thibodeau coached for better or for worse, he was very, very stuck in his way, but he had a way that he was going to operate. That’s what it was going to be. He was not going to change, and for better or for worse.”
It was a shocking move for the Knicks after Thibodeau transformed the perennial lottery team to a playoff contender and came two wins short of reaching the NBA Finals this season.
Thibodeau leaves the Knicks as their fourth all-time winningest coach with 226 wins, trailing only Van Gundy (248), Joe Lapchick (326) and two-time champion coach Red Holzman (613).
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