New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau was recently predicted to win the NBA Coach of the Year award for the 2024-25 NBA season.
Thibodeau has received the league’s top honor for head coaches twice in his illustrious career. The Connecticut native was named Coach of the Year in 2011, manning the sidelines for the Chicago Bulls, and in 2021 for the Knicks. He led the Bulls to an astounding 62-20 record in his rookie head coaching season, and took them to the Eastern Conference Finals that year.
He also coached Derrick Rose to the 2011 NBA MVP award. Fast forward 11 years, and the former 2008 NBA champion as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics, took the Knicks to the playoffs with a 41-31 record in the COVID-19 condensed 2020-21 campaign, though they lost in the first round to the Atlanta Hawks.
Most recently, coach “Thibs” led the Knicks (50-32) to their first 50-win season since 2012-13, finishing second in the Atlantic Division behind the defending champion Boston Celtics, and their deepest playoff run — Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals — since 2000. He did so while dealing with a host of injuries.
The Knicks saw several players miss a considerable amount of time throughout 2023-24, including All-Star Julius Randle (36 games), Mitchell Robinson (51 games) and OG Anunoby (27 games). The Knicks are hoping that the injury monkey hops off of their back. If so, Thibodeau will have three of his most crucial pieces available to him, alongside the Knicks’ standout offseason acquisitions, in what could shape up to be a 2024-25 campaign that has them exceed their 50 wins from last time out.
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Knicks: Tom Thibodeau has been given the 2025 Coach of the Year edge over the field
According to a recent ESPN poll that predicted every end-of-season award winner across the league, their staff gave the nod to Thibodeau to take home the COTY come next season’s end, as Geoff Magliocchetti of New York Knicks on SI (h/t) laid out:
“At 19 percent, Thibodeau tied for first for primary votes alongside Mark Daigneault, who currently holds the title for his work with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Joe Mazzulla of the rival Boston Celtics. Thibodeau, however, had 29 total points to lead a top five that also featured Gregg Popovich (San Antonio) and Kenny Atkinson (Cleveland),” Magliocchetti wrote.
Knicks’ elite roster on paper could help coach Thibodeau win his third COTY
The biggest thing that will be going for the Knicks and coach Thibodeau is the addition of rising star Mikal Bridges. The fact that the Knicks managed to win 50 games last time out without their No. 2 option in Randle and the 24 PPG his absence left on the table alone speaks volume to the depth on the roster. However, Bridges is the most reliable player in the entire NBA, and has not missed a single game in his entire six-year career.
Bridges’ track record shows that he can be that No. 2 guy next to his former Villanova teammate Jalen Brunson, should Randle have to miss any time again next season. His 26.1 PPG for the Brooklyn Nets after getting traded from the Phoenix Suns at the 2023 NBA trade deadline showed what his ceiling can be in the Association. Also, his 19.6 PPG across 82 games for Brooklyn in 2023-24 gave a more realistic sample size of where he’s at in his career, and what he can do in a secondary or tertiary role at 15.8 field goal attempts per contest.
The Knicks also addressed their shortage of playmakers at floor general by signing Cam Payne and drafting Tyler Kolek out of Marquette. Coach Thibodeau may only encounter issues at center behind Robinson, but even there the Knicks are still fortified with Precious Achiuwa and Jericho Sims, the latter of whom could take the next step in 2024-25.
New York finished No. 7 in offensive rating (117.3) and No. 9 in defensive rating (112.4), but were dead last in pace (95.96) last season. Now that Bridges is in town, they’ll boast what could be the best perimeter defense in the league and play faster. Donte DiVincenzo and Josh Hart will further those efforts as Thibodeau’s first call-ups off of his bench. If the Knicks exceed 50 games, finish as a top-three seed in the East once again, and own their regular season series against the other top contenders in the NBA, Thibodeau could come away atop the field for the third time.
