Feb 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown at a press conference during the game against the LA Clippers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Knicks Coaching Contractual Details Revealed

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Jul 5, 2025 2:45 PM ET

The New York Knicks offered Mike Brown their vacant head coaching position on Wednesday, but little was known about the details of their contractual agreement, let alone how that might clash with any money they still owed out to the recently-fired Tom Thibodeau.

That's where Ian Begley, SNY's Knicks analyst, came through. He delivered one of the first official reports that Brown inked a four-year, $40 million deal to take the lead job in New York, confirming that he was one of the five candidates who sat down for an interview with the Knicks' suits amidst their month-long odyssey to find a replacement.

The Knicks’ deal with Mike Brown is for four years and $40M in total, per league sources familiar with the matter. The Knicks chose Brown as their new head coach earlier this week after a roughly four-week search. Taylor Jenkins, James Borrego, Micah Nori and Dawn Staley were…
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) July 5, 2025

Brown also reportedly "crushed" his clinching second interview, leading to the hearty final figure for the experienced head coach.

But as Begley reports, the contract he was still under with the Sacramento Kings made for an intriguing wrinkle to straighten out. The same man who won Coach of the Year during his debut with his newest team was fired two and a half years into the job, and more specifically, "during the first year of a raise/extension that paid him $8.5M annually through 2026-27."

That's where the offset clause comes in handy for Sacramento, which says that "when a coach is hired by a new team, the new salary will offset some - or all - of the money remaining on the contract the coach had with his/her previous team," so the Knicks won't be on the hook for the money Sacramento left hanging in sacking Brown last season.

The same can't be said for Thibodeau, though. Even after he was let go shortly after the Knicks' season came to an end in the Eastern Conference Finals, he's still owed the $30 million remaining on his deal that had yet to be paid out by the time of his termination, making for a major figure for New York to cough up in combining the two different complicated salaries they're on the books for.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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