Knicks granted permission to speak with familiar fan favorite

A reunion like no other would bring back not just memories, but some much needed offensive creativity

It wasn’t long ago that the Knicks made headlines for starting their coaching search by asking numerous teams for permission to speak to their head coach. New York targeted the Western Conference trio of Jason Kidd, Chris Finch, and Ime Udoka, in what many, including myself, considered a sign of doing their due diligence. But they were swiftly denied by their respective organizations.

The Knicks ultimately landed Mike Brown to take the helm and have since started asking around the league about different assistant coaches as they try to fill out the rest of Brown’s staff —a much more common practice than asking about currently hired head coaches. Earlier this month, the Knicks asked the Pelicans to speak with assistant coach James Borrego, who was considered one of the Knicks’ and Brown’s top targets, but they again were denied.

New York has now moved their sights to a different name- one that will sound very familiar. Late last night, Ian Begley of SNY reported that the Knicks were granted permission to speak with Pablo Prigioni, who played with the aforementioned Kidd in New York, coached under the aforementioned Finch in Minnesota, and also coached current Knick, Karl-Anthony Towns, during his time as a Timberwolf.

Prigioni came over to the Knicks when he was 35 years old, making him the league’s oldest rookie ever. And despite spending just two and a half seasons as a Knick, he quickly became a fan favorite due to his relentless hustle and selfless play.

The now 48-year-old has since been an assistant coach in Brooklyn and Minnesota, and has developed a good reputation around the league as an innovative offensive mind, who is also credited with helping develop guards like Anthony Edwards and Rob Dillingham.

His experience in Minnesota helping Finch create an offense centered around spacing and shooting should align with what Brown and the Knicks want to do. Prigioni’s potential return to The Big Apple should be an encouraging sign for fans who want to see both Jalen Brunson and Towns’ offensive potential maximized in a way that Tom Thibodeau’s isolation-heavy, stagnant offense could not. And his experience in assisting the development of young guards could also prove to be pivotal in the continued growth of Deuce McBride and Tyler Kolek.

Now, this doesn’t mean that Prigioni is a lock to be on the Knicks’ bench next season. Finch empowers his assistants, the Timberwolves are coming off of back-to-back conference finals appearances, and Prigioni has now called Minnesota home for six years. That being said, after a summer full of permission denials, it’s nice to see a coach, a familiar one at that, being allowed to speak with the team, signaling a potential mutual interest.