Sources: Juwan Howard to interview for Knicks job
Miami Heat assistant Juwan Howard will interview with the New York Knicks for their head-coaching vacancy, league sources told ESPN's Zach Lowe.
The interview is expected to take place Saturday, per sources.
Team president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry are looking for the club's next head coach after they fired Jeff Hornacek following the Knicks' 29-win regular season.
Mills and Perry also interviewed former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt in Europe earlier this week, per league sources.
Blatt is coaching a team in Turkey this season. The Knicks are also expected to meet with San Antonio Spurs assistant coach James Borrego in New York, league sources said. The Spurs granted permission to New York to interview Borrego, sources said.
Among the Knicks head-coaching interviews already completed, David Fizdale and Jerry Stackhouse made strong cases for themselves, league sources told ESPN. The club also came away impressed by formerAtlanta Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer after an interview Sunday, sources said.
Blatt, it should be noted, has a strong history and relationship with Mills, and Mills has been an advocate for Blatt to become the Knicks' head coach when he worked with Phil Jackson and now Perry.
But Perry has no relationship with Blatt and would need to be convinced that they could work together -- and that Blatt, 58, could be an asset in connecting with players and recruiting free agents to New York. Blatt's credentials as a European coach are unmatched, and his season-plus with the Cavaliers included an 83-40 record and a trip to the 2015 NBA Finals.
Howard, whose collegiate career at the University of Michigan overlapped with Perry's stint as an assistant coach at the school, joined the Miami Heat coaching staff in 2013 after a 19-year playing career.
Borrego, 41, is considered one of the top young assistant coaches in the NBA, and his time with Perry with the Orlando Magic has played a part in his ability to interview for the Knicks' job. Borrego made a strong impression on Perry in a 30-game stint as interim head coach in the 2014-15 season.
Borrego was the runner-up to Fizdale in the Memphis Grizzlies' search two years ago, and he made a strong impression on the Houston Rockets in meetings before they hired Mike D'Antoni. Borrego has turned down college head-coaching opportunities to remain on coach Gregg Popovich's staff and pursue the chance to be an NBA head coach.
The Knicks also interviewed Los Angeles Clippers assistant coach Mike Woodson and TNT analyst Kenny Smith for the vacancy. Woodson, who was fired by the Knicks in 2014 after two-plus seasons, isn't considered to be in the top tier of initial candidates. Celtics assistant Jay Larranaga, former Golden State Warriors coach and ESPN analyst Mark Jackson also interviewed for the job.
