According to reports coming from the NBA on Saturday, The Knicks are close to bringing back their former assistant manager Tom Thibodeau ahead of the restart of the NBA season.

With Van Gundy in charge, Tom Thibodeau was the assistant at Knicks when they got to the 1999 NBA finals.

According to ESPN, although either party has signed no contract, a deal is expected to be made public in the coming weeks.

Furthermore, the Knicks were a regular in the postseason for every season that Van Gundy was in charge, but his impact on such feat is relevant and has been missed ever since as they have only managed three postseasons since he left.

Meanwhile, with Tom Thibodeau a big part of the success under Van Gundy and his experience as a member of Team USA’s coaching staff since 2014, it is expected that he will help the team back into the playoffs and postseason although a postseason isn’t possible this year having done 21-45 this season.

It will be the seventh season in a row that The Knicks have failed to make the postseason. Meanwhile, Tom Thibodeau will take over from Mike Miller, who was the interim manager since David Fizdale was sacked after 22 games this season.

Head coach of USA national Basketball team Gregg Popovich, who has been working with Tom since 2017 when he took charge of the team, believes Tom is the best choice for the Knicks’ job.

“Tommy is seasoned veteran who understands what wins what loses, He’ll be a great choice to organize the situation there, develop a plan, start a culture stick to it and be persistent and get after it, It’s a great choice.” Popovich said.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu