Dec 11, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks head coach Quin Snyder coaches against the New York Knicks during the third quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Bill Simmons Discusses Wild Quin Snyder-Tom Thibodeau New York Knicks Trade Suggestion On Latest Pod

Originally posted on Atlanta Hawks on SI
By Jackson Caudell | Last updated Jun 6, 2025 11:46 AM ET

Just shortly after the New York Knicks lost the Eastern Conference Finals to the Indiana Pacers, they made a somewhat surprising decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau, who had a lot of success with the team since becoming their head coach. He led the franchise to its first conference finals appearance in 25 seasons and if not for a historic collapse in game one against the Pacers, the Knicks might be playing in the NBA Finals right now.

But that is not what happened and the Knicks are looking for a new head coach to lead one of the most talented rosters in the NBA. There have been a lot of suggestions for who the Knicks should hire and there have even been rumors of the Knicks being interested in trading for a sitting head coach, namely Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.

The Knicks are expected to show interest in Ime Udoka and Jason Kidd, while Johnnie Bryant and Jay Wright are considered presumed candidates, per @TheSteinLine

“When it comes to available coaches, longtime Villanova coach Jay Wright — who has long expressed a reluctance to make… pic.twitter.com/7ZwOY4df4j
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 4, 2025

While that seems very unlikely, anything can happen in the NBA, especially with a job like the Knicks.

On the latest edition of his podcast, Bill Simmons was discussing the NBA Finals game one result and the Knicks coaching search with analyst Zach Lowe. Simmons started discussing a suggestion from a friend that involved the Knicks and Hawks swapping head coaches instead of the Knicks firing Thibodeau:

"I apologize to the friend who sent me this because I can't remember their name, but they made the point that Thibs would have been the greatest Atlanta Hawks coach and that the best outcome would have been a Quin Snyder for Thibs trade over firing Thibs because if you put him on Atlanta he basically could have just run the Knicks offense with Trae Young as Jalen Brunson but could have had all of this defense, all of these wings and Okongwu as the shot blocker and just done the Thibs team and Trae could have just shot the ball 36 times. I apologize to the friend that texted me this, but I thought that it was great."