Jeff Hornacek will have a job by the start of the 2016-17 NBA regular season.
What that job will be, we don’t know. But he is most definitely going to have one.
Per ESPN.com’s Marc Stein:
The Knicks, league sources say, have interviewed Jeff Hornacek for their coaching job along with Kurt Rambis, David Blatt and Frank Vogel.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 16, 2016
Oh? The New York Knicks? That’s surprising, in a long-shot kind of way. No one really expects them to deviate outside Phil Jackson’s triangular circle. His candidacy could be real, it could be a facade—a smokescreen.
If the Knicks gig falls through, as it probably will, the Golden State Warriors also want a piece of Hornacek:
Sources say Golden State also has strong interest in Hornacek to join the Warriors' bench next season if he's still on the market by then.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 16, 2016
Jeff Hornacek to the Warriors, should he fail to land a head coaching job, makes total sense. They need someone to help fill the voids left by Alvin Gentry (New Orleans Pelicans) and Luke Walton (Los Angeles Lakers), and Hornacek—well, he could use a championship.
But there’s no guarantee that Hornaeck is still available for an assistant stint. Though he has yet to set up a new job, he’s apparently been in the running for plenty of openings:
Hornacek has been in the mix for nearly every head coach job this offseason. New York, Houston, Memphis and Orlando all still have vacancies
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) May 16, 2016
Will Jeff Hornacek stick with one of those vacancies? Maybe. The Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies may be his best bet at this point. And if he can’t grab another head coaching gig, he can always latch on to the soon-to-be still-reigning champion Warriors.
That’s not a bad contingency plan.
