League sources told Marc Stein on June 2 that New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau “should be viewed” as a lock to get a contract extension this off-season “at the market rate,” which the insider believes to be in the ballpark of “at least $10 million” per season.
Back in March we already heard about rumors of a potential extension being offered to Thibs following his 300th regular-season game with the Knicks. Sam Amick of The Athletic reported an extension could be in the works, citing sources discussing the potential deal.
“League sources say [Thibodeau] hopes to secure his future with the Knicks when both sides plan to revisit the topic this summer,” Amick reported on March 22. “At this rate, the Knicks might wind up hoping they’d decided to get something done with Thibodeau before the recent explosion of coaching salaries.”
Thibodeau is under contract through the 2025 season, and coaches rarely reach “free agency,” let’s say, before signing a contract extension.
Just in the last few months, the coaching market has exploded with the deal the Detroit Pistons front office offered to Monty Williams, worth $78.5 million spread over six years, launching everything into another stratosphere.
As Stein mentions in his latest newsletter, the list of hefty contracts signed by sideline whisperers is quite a golden one.
Erik Spoelstra (Miami Heat) inked an eight-year $120 million ridiculous contract in January 2024.
Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors) secured a substantial two-year, $35 million contract during the season.
Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks) received a significant raise and a two-year extension through 2026-27 following the first-round playoff win.
Mike Budenholzer was hired by the Phoenix Suns on a five-year, $10 million-per-season deal after they fired Frank Vogel, who was signed by the Suns to a five-year deal worth over $6 million annually.
Tyronn Lue (LA Clippers) signed a five-year extension reportedly worth $70 million.
Mike Brown (Sacramento Kings) also finalized a new contract through the 2026-27 season worth $8.5 million per without taking bonuses into consideration.
Greg Popovich (San Antonio Spurs) signed a five-year extension worth over $80 million to develop Victor Wembanyama.
Since he was hired, Thibodeau has put up a rock-solid 175-143 (.550) record in 318 regular-season games.
He’s also 14-15 in the postseason, reaching the playoffs in his first season coaching in New York (1-4 first-round loss to Atlanta), then again last year when he advanced past the first round before falling to Miami in six games, and once more this season winning seven more games before losing to the Indiana Pacers in Game 7 of the ECSF.
If Thibs signs an extension, and assuming he completes next season (still under contract) on the bench without getting fired, he would only need to be on the sideline for an extra 20 regular-season outings at the start of the 2025-26 campaign to match Jeff Van Gundy’s coaching record (420) with the Knicks.
Thibodeau is already one of six Knicks coaches with 300+ games under his belt, and getting those 82+21 games would allow him to overtake JVG for the third-most games coached from New York’s sideline.
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