Becky Hammon has interest in Knicks job

The New York Knicks have run through 10 coaches this century, including three in the past four years, so they may have trouble attracting the most established coaching candidates in their search to replace David Fizdale.

However, they are reportedly drawing interest from one of the most notable assistants in the league: Becky Hammon of the San Antonio Spurs.

Hammon became the first full-time female assistant coach in any of the big four American sports in 2014 after a 16-year run in the WNBA. She led the Spurs to a Las Vegas Summer League title in 2015 and became Gregg Popovich’s top assistant in 2018.

Sources told CNBC’s Jabari Young and Ganesh Setty that Hammon would have interest in the position if she could land a four- or five-year deal. That has been fairly standard, as the last three Knicks coaches have landed five-year (Derek Fisher), three-year (Jeff Hornacek) and four-year (Fizdale) contracts despite each getting fired with at least one year left on their deals.

That type of security would probably be necessary because the Knicks are one of the toughest coaching jobs in the NBA. The franchise has sky-high expectations despite not having a winning season since 2012-13, and a slow start cost Fizdale his job after 22 games this season.

The next Knicks coach will inherit several young players like RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson and Frank Ntilikina with plenty of talent but a steep learning curve. And the rest of the roster is filled out with stopgap veterans who are ill-suited for the modern NBA.

The Knicks are one of the premier NBA franchises, but this team is a long way away from contention.