Berman: Knicks assistant coaches got extended.

During that awkward intermission between the draft and the beginning of the lockout, there were rumblings about Mike D'Antoni's assistant coaches-- all of whom reportedly had expiring contracts-- getting contract extensions for the coming seasons. We never heard official news on that front, but Marc Berman mentioned today that the deals were done, albeit quietly. It's at the end of this story, found via ProBasketballTalk's John "The Sorcerer" Krolik:

A source said Mike D'Antoni's assistant coaches -- Dan D'Antoni, Phil Weber, Herb Williams and Kenny Atkinson -- have signed contract extensions for next season, though the club has not and will not announce it. D'Antoni has plans to add another defensive assistant to the staff.

It's fine news that all of the assistants got their extensions (there was briefly some doubt as to whether Williams, who's not part of the travelin' D'Antoni band, would be among those to get re-upped). It's intriguing that the murmurs of D'Antoni considering a defensive assistant have cemented to the point that a reporter like Berman would definitively cite his "plans". Meanwhile, Krolik takes this news as evidence that D'Antoni the Younger will be sticking around for at least a year, which seems like a logical conclusion to draw. Dan without Mike would be super awkward.

Anyway, we'll see about any future hirings-- bear in mind that the extension of all four guys means the Knicks are pretty fully-staffed-- but the immediate news is good indeed.