Tom Thibodeau Favored To Be Next New York Knicks Head Coach

The return of sports and the NBA season is almost here but one team that wasn’t invited to the COVID-19 bubble city is the New York Knicks. The Knickerbockers had the worst record in the Eastern Conference and now are searching for a new coach, with Tom Thibodeau favored to be hired.

The best basketball betting sites have released odds on who will be the next head coach of the New York Knicks and Thibodeau is a -250 favorite, according to Sportsbook. Thibodeau has been out of work since his unceremonious departure from the Timberwolves and this would be his third time coaching an NBA team if he is hired.

Other potential candidates are Kenny Atkinson (+400), the former coach of the Brooklyn Nets, former Knicks point guard and ESPN broadcaster Mark Jackson (+600), and current interim bench boss Mike Miller (+1400).

If you’re new to betting on basketball, Odds Shark has a handy and trustworthy How To Bet On Basketball guide that can get you back in transition. You can also stay on top of odds for NBA Futures.

For now, here are the coaching candidates for the New York Knicks job and their betting odds:   

Odds as of July 21 at Sportsbook

Tom Thibodeau Is The Favorite For A Reason

Defensive discipline, hard work, getting the best out of young players. These are just some of the reasons why a coach like Tom Thibodeau would be a great hire in the Big Apple to lead the New York Knicks back to relevancy after they fired David Fizdale.

Relevancy is the key word here. While they did make the second round in the 2013 playoffs, the Knicks have been a dumpster fire ever since. Since 2001, they have the worst collective regular-season record in the NBA and have only made the playoffs five times in the last 20 years. Think about that last stat and then consider that they play in the weaker Eastern Conference.

That’s why a hard-nosed coach like Thibodeau could be just what the Knicks need to help steer the blue-chip players like RJ Barrett and Mitch Robinson into better defensive habits. The Knicks have ranked in the bottom 10 in the league in points allowed per game over the last four seasons.

The burnout factor has always been the issue with Thibodeau as he’s the type of coach to burn the candle at both ends by playing his stars for big minutes, which is counter to the load-management NBA we live with today. He may be the obvious candidate to get the Knicks back from being a cesspool of a franchise but his stay could be short-lived if he doesn’t adapt.

Atkinson and Hammon Deserve Consideration

The two other candidates who could be worthy of a wager and would help to rehab the New York Knicks’ image would be former Brooklyn Nets coach Kenny Atkinson (+400) and San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Becky Hammon (+3000).

Kenny Atkinson

Out of all the candidates listed on the oddsboard, Atkinson had the most recent head coaching job and has a track record of building a program from the ground up after the Nets had been a laughingstock. The cupboard was bare when he was hired during the 2016-17 season and he actually got the squad to a 42-40 SU record for the 2018-19 season, which was impressive in itself. 

While he eventually resigned 62 games into this season due to clashes with the front office, that can’t be fully pinned on him as the arrival of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant made him an afterthought by GM Sean Marks. 

If the Knicks are serious about changing the culture and wanting a coach who can lead young men, Atkinson would be the best choice. But then again, when has this team made the best choices?  

Becky Hammon

Although hiring the first female NBA head coach could be viewed as a publicity stunt, there isn’t a more deserving candidate than Becky Hammon. The longtime WNBA star and assistant to Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs, she is certainly not a token woman. Take it from former all-star Pau Gasol, who raved about her coaching ability in an article with The Players Tribune.

Then there’s the fact that Popovich’s coaching tree of former assistants have typically gone on to some form of success as NBA coaches. Brett Brown may have his detractors but he’s done a decent job as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers while Mike Budenholzer has coached two teams to the best record in the NBA in his career with the Hawks in 2014 and the Bucks in 2019.

Can Hammon live up to that level of success in the Big Apple on the main stage at Madison Square Garden? Hard to tell at this point, but if the Knicks are serious about making an overall change and want free agents to start considering New York as a prime destination, it starts with being progressive as a franchise and fixing some of the mistakes that have been made under comedically inept owner James Dolan.

Understanding Knicks Head Coach Prop Odds

When you check out your sportsbook of choice for betting props like who will be the next head coach of the New York Knicks, you’ll see prop odds that look something like this:

Tom Thibodeau -250

Mark Jackson +600

Mike Miller +750

To bet on these odds, you would be making a prop bet – more on that in a bit. In this case, Tom Thibodeau is the favorite as he has a minus sign (-) in front of his odds. Mark Jackson or Mike Miller would be considered the underdog.

If you think Thibodeau will get the job and you bet $100 on him, you would win $150. That’s your original $100 back and $50 of profit. On the flip side, if you think Jackson gets the gig and you bet $100 on him, you’d win $700 – your original wager of $100 is returned along with $600 in profit.

Our Odds Calculator will show you how much you’d win based on the odds and amount bet.

What is a Prop Bet?

A basketball prop is a bet on the occurrence or non-occurrence of certain outcomes that may not necessarily determine the outcome of an NBA game. You can make a bet like this as soon as the odds are announced. Oddsmakers will move the lines as news comes out about a candidate’s intentions and his hiring ability.If you see odds you like, place your bet immediately, otherwise the action could move so much that you’ll barely make a profit or maybe even not make one at all.