The New York Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau on Tuesday after a six-game defeat to the Indiana Pacers in the franchise's first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 25 years.

Despite taking the Knicks to the cusp of the NBA Finals, owner James Dolan and president of basketball operations Leon Rose chose to move in a different direction with the franchise that is currently in win-now mode.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst believes that the Knicks job is as compelling as it is complex.

"This is one of the interesting jobs that you're ever going to see because it is a desirable job," Windhorst said on First Take. "They have a very good roster. It is in New York City. And most importantly, it's in the Eastern Conference ... and in the Eastern Conference right now, the landscape is a lot more friendly than the Western Conference, so yes, it is a desirable job.

"But then again, it is a flawed roster. The reason that they are no longer playing is because the flaws in their roster were exploited by the Indiana Pacers and while that roster can be changed, it won't be easy because they've spent so many of their assets to put this starting five together. They also just ran a gentleman out of their who was their most successful coach in two decades who had back-to-back 50-win seasons and made the conference finals. The standard that you're going to have to overachieve on is going to be very difficult and you're going to do it in the hottest media market in the country. So it is a complex job."

As far as the candidates? Windhorst had a few names in mind.

"There are three different levels where I sit and see right now. One would be the three guys who were successful coaches in the league last year who were surprisingly fired. Mike Brown ... Michael Malone ... and Taylor Jenkins, who might have been coming close to a 50-win team with the Grizzlies and was fired with two weeks left to go in the season. ... Then you look at the off-the-board guys. ... Jeff Van Gundy has gotten rave reviews for his work with the L.A. Clippers and the Boston Celtics over the last couple years. He knows what it takes to be a head coach in New York. He would be an excellent option. ... Maybe you look at some people who have never been NBA head coaches before, that's where you think about a guy like a Jay Wright or maybe a Royal Ivey as a top assistant."

There will be no shortage of interest in the position, but you figure that the Knicks probably have a short list of guys in mind if they were comfortable moving on from Thibodeau who brought the Knicks franchise back to NBA relevance over the last five seasons.

Where they go from here is anybody's guess.

More From Sports Illustrated on Tom Thibodeau Firing


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Brian Windhorst Identifies Potential Candidates for Open New York Knicks Coaching Job.

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