Leon Rose will be leading the New York Knicks’ head coaching search in the coming weeks (or months) now that he has been hired as the team’s president, but it sounds as if there is at least a chance Rose may be satisfied enough with the job Mike Miller is doing.
Miller was named the interim head coach of the Knicks back in December after they fired David Fizdale. The Knicks have gone 17-27 since Miller took over, and SNY’s Ian Begley reports that Rose’s first impression of Miller has been positive. In the 10 days Rose was around Miller before the NBA season was postponed, he was reportedly impressed with the job Miller had been doing both on and off the court.
As Begley notes, executives with the Knicks respected the way Miller handled sensitive issues such as the deaths of Kobe Bryant and former NBA commissioner David Stern. Because of that, those executives would like to see Miller remain with the organization in some capacity next season even if Rose decides to bring in a different head coach.
The NBA calendar has already been greatly altered due to the coronavirus outbreak, and it’s not a guarantee that the 2019-20 season will even be completed. The unexpected change could make searching for a new head coach more complicated, so sticking with Miller may be an appealing option for the Knicks. Despite that, Rose has a strong relationship with at least one candidate who could be considered for the position.
