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Whether or not Steve Kerr is the right man for New York's or any job, he's clearly the guy Phil Jackson wants, yet New York's pursuit drags on. And from the sound of things, it's just haggling. Ian Begley has the Knicks trying to knock a year off Kerr's preferred five-year $25-30 million deal, which, as we've discussed, would be disproportionately lucrative for a first-time coach but fitting, since Kerr has leverage and the Knicks do not.
Speaking of leverage, Kerr's agent Mike Tannenbaum went on the radio to tickle the Knicks by vaguely mentioning his client's other "options." The Warriors seemed the strongest of those options, then they faded, but now that Stan Van Gundy looks to be gravitating toward Detroit, Golden State is getting flirty again. Woj:
If Van Gundy takes the Detroit job, Golden State officials plans to resume their pursuit of Steve Kerr to coach the franchise, sources told Yahoo Sports. Kerr and the New York Knicks remain unable to reach terms on a contract, and Warriors officials may travel to meet with Kerr in the near future, sources said.
Golden State's management group is headed to Oklahoma City to make a final push for Steve Kerr, sources tell Yahoo. Kerr has TNT game there.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 13, 2014
Still, you won't find anyone naming any team but the Knicks as the top contender for Kerr. They're just dawdling and bargaining. Talks that were supposed to wrap up by the beginning of last week, then the end of last week, then the beginning of this week might "drag on even beyond Wednesday." Maybe renewed pressure from the Warriors will force the Knicks to pay up, maybe they'll reach a compromise, maybe Kerr will bail. Maybe this process will stretch into eternity and we'll all perish before the Knicks hire a head coach. The grim specter of Steve Kerr will shoot threes over our tombs, cackling all the while.
This has all been very long, very dumb. I'm doing my best to keep y'all abreast of what's happening without reacting to every report of "close" and "nearing." There's been a lot of that. It's silly. Dan summed it up well.
New D-League team reveal tomorrow! That'll be a nice, different thing.