May 19, 2005 -- Sometime late tonight, Nate McMillan could become the newest hot coaching free agent on the NBA market and the latest to draw Isiah Thomas' lust.
The Sonics are one loss away from playoff elimination, trailing the Spurs 3-2 in their second-round battle. Thomas knows McMillan is a longshot with Phil Jackson, with indications he wants to stay put in Seattle.

However, money talks and Thomas already has an in. He and McMillan share the same agent, Lonnie Cooper. Undoubtedly, Thomas will call Cooper and the Sonics to gauge interest when Seattle's season ends.

Recent reports from Seattle estimated McMillan would seek a contract starting at $4 million per. Since the Knicks were willing to give Jackson $10 million per, they might get a bargain in McMillan and still outbid the Sonics. Seattle also could be in a disorganized state since its GM Rick Sund, too, is not under contract.

McMillan could be the last man standing in the way of Herb Williams getting the permanent job. The Knick search could last anywhere from another week to another month, sources said, depending partly on Jackson, who said Saturday he may need until mid-June to decide.

Spurs assistant P.J. Carlesimo is still in the mix, but it appears the Knicks have been rebuffed regarding meeting with him a second time, as San Antonio is immersed in the playoffs. Flip Saunders and Maurice Cheeks appear the only other semi-serious candidates, as the Knicks believe Larry Brown won't coach next season.

Posted by diderotn:

this article is old..

Posted by franco12:

not sure if anyone posted this about Nate & Seattle- but they largely made do with a guard oriented offense- none of their bigs (4&5) are necessarily that good.

Posted by gunsnewing:

Posted by franco12:

Posted by gunsnewing:

as long as he will play & develop our young players. Thats all I'm looking for at this point. I'd be a little worried because he's still a relatively unproven coach unlike Phil.

I don't think you can call Nate unproven

Career in five years is 212 wins, 183 losses- .537% winning percentage.

my point is with a team with very little talent especially in the frontcourt like the Knicks if things do go well the coach is going to get all the blame as usual eventhough he's a good coach. A guy like Phil would never get the blame becuase he has 9 rings whereas Nate has 0 making him an unproven coach. But I agree Nate is a very good coach. I would love to have him

True- by and large that's why I'm leaning towards the opinion that if you can't get Phil, keep Herb