Knicks Land the Big Fish for Head Coach

Last week, we talked about Derek Fisher being a possible candidate for both the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers coaching job. It seemed like he was the favorite for two of the biggest professional franchises in all of sports. Fisher is the latest of the new trend of basketball players coming right off the court going from a basketball jersey to a suit coat in a matter of months. Fisher decided to take over New York Knicks job. He will need to convince their superstar to come back to the Big Apple plus why Fisher made the smart decision to not deal with Kobe Bryant or the Western Conference.

Fisher will be announced as the next coach of the New York Knicks today. He will be the seventh coach since the departure of Jeff Van Gundy (Technically, eighth but Herb Williams coached the team twice). Fisher will inherit an interesting array of talent with some question marks about the impending free agency of their star player Carmelo Anthony. Fisher and Anthony never played together in the league, but the assumption is there will be no issue with Melo joining Fisher if he intends to come back to the Knicks. Many people believe Carmelo will be back for another dose of the Knicks because they can pay him the most amount of money. But you have to wonder 'what if?'

Say the Knicks somehow lose Melo, what does New York do from there? Knicks would probably make a run at Kevin Love if he is still available. Additionally, they would probably look into Russell Westbrook after the season is over. If we are really looking far down the road, Kevin Durant is up in 2016, and it is not a sure thing he will be back with the Thunder. Losing Melo would not be the worst thing in the world. Their roster would be in shambles, and they would need to replace the scoring yet New York could be better off with the guys available in the future. Melo is definitely a better player than Love, but 100 percent of the time, you take Westbrook or Durant over Anthony.  Step one of the Knicks offseason is done, and now, they have to bring Anthony back to Madison Square Garden.

Fisher decided against coaching former teammate Kobe Bryant, and that's a great decision. Even though you will have Phil Jackson breathing down your neck, it is much better hearing from him, one of the greatest coaches of all time versus someone still in the league. Bryant would think he owned the team and would not listen to Fisher at all plus influence the other players to go against Fisher. Their relationship would easily head for an iceberg at some point. Additionally knowing the Lakers roster is in more flux than what's going in New York, it made sense for him to take the New York job. Dealing with Jackson and maybe Melo on a daily basis seems less stressful than having Kobe in his ear for the full-time he is employed with the team.

The other problem with the Lakers job is the Western Conference. Getting into the playoffs is far more difficult than it is in the Eastern Conference. New York can easily get into the playoffs as an eighth or seventh seed annually, ask the Milwaukee Bucks. Los Angeles does not have that same sort of luxury. New York media and the fans will not be satisfied with first-round playoff appearances consistently,  but if the Knicks can find their way into the second round a couple times mixed with another playoff appearance, Fisher will be considered royalty by the fans and media, the toughest judges of this Knicks team.

Fisher inherits more problems than Steve Kerr or Jason Kidd, two first-time coaches, just starting out their coaching career, but with a guy like Jackson by his side, it will make the transition much easier.

Charlie.