Report: Knicks & Tom Thibodeau might discuss extension this summer

Just a few days ago, Tom Thibodeau coached his 300th regular-season game for the New York Knicks. If he makes it through December 2025 without getting fired, Thibs will overtake Jeff Van Gundy as the NYK head coach with the third-most appearances on the home bench of MSG’s sidelines.

That, turns out, might be about to become near-fait-accompli.

Thibodeau is under contract through the 2025 season, meaning that, as things stand, he won’t be around to break that JVV milestone if a contract extension is not agreed to between the Knicks and Thibs.

Well, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic that extension could be in the works and get signed as soon as this summer.

“League sources say [Thibodeau] hopes to secure his future with the Knicks when both sides plan to revisit the topic this summer,” Amick reported on Thursday, March 22. “At this rate, the Knicks might wind up hoping they’d decided to get something done with Thibodeau before the recent explosion of coaching salaries.”

Amick is right in pointing that last bit of information out, as the NBA has experienced a boom in top-dollar head coach contracts recently.

The Detroit Pistons signed Monty Williams to a freaking six-year, $78.5 million deal. The Milwaukee Bucks gave Doc Rivers a mid-season, four-year, $40 million contract before the trade deadline. Before those two contracts were signed, two of the most world-renowned coaches in Erik Spoelstra (eight years, $120 million) and Steve Kerr (two years, $35 million) also filled their bags nicely.

Although the exact figure is unknown, Amick reports that Thibodeau’s deal is paying him around $7 million per season. That pales when compared to the four contracts above which range between $10.3 (Doc) and $17.5 (Kerr) million a pop.

It’s fair to assume both the Knicks and Thibs will end up agreeing to something, even if that means New York has to pony up more money than the franchise initially hoped for considering the wonderful relationship both parties have forged since Thibs joined the Knicks heading into the 2021 season.

Since he took the reins of the franchise, Thibodeau is sporting a rock-solid 166-139 (.544) record in 305 regular-season games. He’s also 7-9 in the postseason, reaching the playoffs in his first season coaching in New York (1-4 first-round loss to Atlanta) and then again last year when he advanced past the first round before falling to Miami in six games on the ECSF stage.

Among active head coaches, Thibs ranks fifth in total wins with 518 through 903 regular-season games. Thibs’ .574 win percentage ranks 11th among those in that group, although only five coaches above him have been on a bench for 10-plus seasons.

Not only is Thibodeau winning more games than not, but his philosophy and roster guidelines have shaped the best New York Knicks team to grace the NBA in the last decade—if not this century as a whole.

Whether it is a two-, three-, five-, or twelve-year extension, Leon Rose & Co. should waste no time and lock Thibs into a long-term deal as soon as they can.

There is no reason to think any of the two will enter a dispute and ultimately disagree to sign a new deal, breaking this extraordinary relationship, but I can for one tell you that every Knicks fan out there will sleep much tighter knowing there is no wonder who will be shouting orders from the touchline nightly for the next few years as New York enters a bonafide window of championship contention.