Latest news with #JamesBorrego
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Knicks granted permission to interview ex-Hornets head coach
The post Knicks granted permission to interview ex-Hornets head coach appeared first on ClutchPoints. The New York Knicks are still searching for a head coach after firing Tom Thibodeau shortly after the playoff exit. After failing to land an interview with several other head coaches in the league, it appears the franchise is taking a look at a former head coach of the Charlotte Hornets. Advertisement Reports indicate that James Borrego, who served as the Hornets' head coach for four seasons, is being interviewed by the Knicks for the vacant job, according to ESPN's Shams Charania. Borrego has been working as an assistant for the New Orleans Pelicans since the 2023 season. 'The New York Knicks are planning to interview New Orleans Pelicans associate coach James Borrego for their open head coaching job, sources tell ESPN. Borrego joins Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, and Micah Nori as known formal interviews for the Knicks.' Charlotte made two play-in tournament appearances with Borrego as head coach. During his four seasons with the club, the Hornets owned a 138-163 record. Ultimately, it didn't work out, and he made his way to New Orleans to work as an assistant coach. After two seasons with the Pelicans, it appears he's a head coaching candidate once again. He is now the fourth known coaching candidate the Knicks are interviewing. It's unclear exactly when the front office will make a final decision, but it should be relatively soon. Especially with the NBA Draft kicking off on Wednesday, and free agency is set to begin on June 30. New York will likely want to have its head coach in place by then. Advertisement Until that decision is made, New York will have to begin the draft without a head coach in place. The Knicks do not have a pick in the first round and won't be on the clock until pick No. 50 in round two. That's assuming the front office doesn't make any trades for more picks in this year's draft. Related: Sources: Another Knicks 2025 NBA Draft target emerges Related: Sources: 2 Knicks draft targets to keep an eye on
New York Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Knicks request permission to interview Pelicans assistant James Borrego: Sources
By James Edwards III, Will Guillory and Fred Katz The New York Knicks have requested permission to interview New Orleans Pelicans assistant James Borrego for their open head coaching job, league sources tell The Athletic. He would be the fourth known candidate to meet with the team, joining former head coaches Mike Brown and Taylor Jenkins as well as Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Micah Nori. Advertisement Borrego spent this past season on Willie Green's bench in New Orleans, but he does have experience leading a squad. He was the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets from 2018 to 2022 and stood in as an interim for part of the 2014-15 season with the Orlando Magic. He began his career working for Hall of Famer Gregg Popovich during the San Antonio Spurs' dynasty and returned once again to San Antonio after leaving Orlando in 2015. He is best known as an offensive engineer. The Knicks have dynamic scorers at the top of their attack in both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. Both made All-NBA teams this past season. The Knicks reached out to the Pelicans for permission to speak with assistant coach James Borrego for their head coach vacancy and New Orleans has granted permission, multiple league sources tell me and @WillGuillory. Borrego will be fourth known person to interview with NYK. — James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) June 25, 2025 Borrego is also represented by CAA, the agency whose basketball division Knicks president Leon Rose once headed. CAA also reps Jenkins. Last week, New York interviewed both Jenkins, who was the Memphis Grizzlies' head coach until his firing with a few weeks left in this past season, and Brown, who lost his job as head coach of the Sacramento Kings earlier in the year. They brought in Nori earlier this week, league sources confirmed to The Athletic. They have reached out to various head coaches of other organizations, who have denied permission for interviews. They requested permission to speak with Chicago Bulls head coach Billy Donovan and Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka. Both have received extensions since. They have also contacted the Timberwolves about Chris Finch, the Atlanta Hawks about Quin Snyder and the Dallas Mavericks about Jason Kidd. All three franchises did not allow their head coaches to speak with the Knicks, though The Athletic recently reported that the Kidd situation may not be dead.
New York Times
23-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Knicks head coach search: Could a new name enter the conversation?
The NBA Draft and free agency will take place within the next week, and the New York Knicks are still going through the process of finding a new head coach. When New York fired Tom Thibodeau close to three weeks ago, the franchise set out to do an extensive search for his replacement. The Knicks have the NBA's only head coaching vacancy with no competition in the market. Advertisement The process reached a new stage last week, when New York held interviews with former Memphis Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins and former Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown. Both candidates interviewed over multiple days and were impressive, per league sources. The 40-year-old Jenkins was fired by the Grizzlies just before the start of the playoffs after, essentially, six full seasons manning the sideline and posting a 250-214 record. Brown was fired by the Kings early in the regular season. Aside from his time in Sacramento, he's been a head coach for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Los Angeles Lakers. He was also an assistant on Steve Kerr's Golden State Warriors staff. Jenkins and Brown appear to be the front-runners as of now. However, New York has tossed around the idea of speaking with James Borrego for its vacancy, per league sources. Borrego, a CAA client, is known around the league for his offensive creativity and analytics-forward approach. Borrego spent last season as an assistant coach on Willie Green's staff in New Orleans and was last a head coach for the Charlotte Hornets from 2018-22. His record in those four seasons doesn't pop off the screen, but Borrego led the struggling franchise to a 43-win season just before he was let go. Charlotte has won 40-plus games during the regular season just four times since 2005, which includes Borrego's final year in charge. Something else to continue to monitor is the Knicks' interest in Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd. While a long shot to join New York, Kidd — who is under contract for two more years and the Mavericks, per league sources, have shown no interest to this point in allowing their coach to leave — still hasn't agreed to an extension like other currently-employed head coaches who the Knicks showed interest in during the first stage of their search. New York reached out to Houston to speak with Ime Udoka and to Chicago to speak with Billy Donovan. Udoka agreed to an extension with the Rockets last week, league sources told The Athletic. And according to multiple reports, the Bulls and Billy Donovan are in the process of working on a contract extension. Advertisement There has been nothing regarding Kidd and an extension in Dallas to this point. Furthermore, Dallas did not extend the contracts of Kidd's assistant coaches after the franchise made it to the Western Conference finals last year. Kidd is going to lose his longtime assistant Sean Sweeney to the San Antonio Spurs, league sources confirm to The Athletic. Other top Mavericks assistants, Jared Dudley and God Shammgod, have received interest from rival ballclubs, per league sources, and have contracts that expire on June 30, which is also when Sweeney's deal is up. These all factor into why the Knicks-Kidd chatter won't fully go away. While it's not ideal, the Knicks don't necessarily need a head coach by Wednesday's NBA Draft. New York holds the No. 50 pick. Having a head coach in place by the start of free-agency negotiations next week would be beneficial for the Knicks. However, until further notice, not having one signals that the franchise could be keeping the core of its roster intact. With all that said, New York can continue to search for a Thibodeau replacement at its own pace. — Fred Katz contributed to this story. (Photo of James Borrego: Sean Gardner / Getty Images)
