Knicks Dealt Another Blow After Losing Out on Jason Kidd

Knicks Dealt Another Blow After Losing Out on Jason Kidd originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

The New York Knicks ended their head coaching vacancy by signing Mike Brown to a four-year, $40 million deal on July 7.

The hiring ended a month-long search after New York’s front office fired Tom Thibodeau on June 3 after he led them to three consecutive playoff appearances. The decision to bring in Brown was made to add more experience to their roster because he is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year and four-time champion as an assistant coach.

However, according to New York Post sports writer Stefan Bondy, the Knicks were denied access to interview Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jay Triano for their associate head coach and offensive coordinator position.

Bondy reported that Brown considered Triano a top target because he had worked alongside him with the Sacramento Kings. However, this isn’t the first instance where the Knicks have been denied access to interview a prominent Mavericks coach.

According to NBA insider Shams Charania, they were not allowed to interview Jason Kidd about becoming their coach because he was under contract and too valuable for the Mavericks organization to lose. Before hiring Brown, New York was also denied from interviewing Ime Udoka (Houston Rockets), Chris Finch (Minnesota Timberwolves), Billy Donovan (Chicago Bulls) and Quin Snyder (Atlanta Hawks).

Furthermore, it was reported on Wednesday by SNY reporter Ian Begley that the Knicks were not able to recruit New Orleans Pelicans associate coach James Borrego to become the associate coach because of his contract with the Pelicans organization.

However, this might not be much of an issue for Brown as his coaching staff is already composed of Maurice Cheeks, Andy Greer, Darren Erman and Rick Brunson, the father of All-Star guard Jalen Brunson.

Related: Mike Brown, Knicks Receive Bad News on Wednesday

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 14, 2025, where it first appeared.