The Knicks have hired an accomplished NBA head coach ��� to work in their front office, at least.
David Blatt, who coached LeBron James and the Cavaliers to an 83-40 record in one-and-a-half seasons from 2014-16 and to the 2015 NBA Finals, was hired as a basketball operations consultant, the Knicks announced Wednesday.
“I look forward to the next step in my career as I officially retire from coaching and pursue other opportunities in basketball,” Blatt said in a statement. “I’ve long been intrigued by working in a front office.”
The 60-year-old Blatt, a teammate of Knicks president Steve Mills at Princeton, resigned as coach of Olympiakos (Greece) in October after announcing he’d been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
“David Blatt is a great basketball mind and we look forward to adding him to the organization,” Mills and general manager Scott Perry said in a joint statement. “He will be a great asset to our front office, G League team and international scouting.”
The Knicks (7-21 overall) are 3-3 since interim coach Mike Miller took over for fired David Fizdale earlier this month. Blatt interviewed for the Knicks’ head-coaching vacancies in 2016 (Jeff Hornacek) and 2018 (Fizdale).
“I think it’s a great resource for the organization,” Miller said of Blatt, who watched practice alongside Mills and Perry. “I don’t personally know him. I’ve known of him for a long time and we’ve met and talked a little bit, but I’ve known of him for a long time.”
Mitchell Robinson netted a career-high 22 points, along with 13 rebounds, in 29 minutes in Tuesday’s 143-120 win over Atlanta. Miller believes the second-year center — who has posted a 68.5 field-goal percentage this season, mostly on dunks and shots from the paint — is just scratching the surface offensively.
“I think he is. Physically he has all those tools,” Miller said. “He’s getting more and more comfortable each day and he’s been highly effective in there.”
Julius Randle (sore leg) and Frank Ntilikina (illness) did not practice.
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