Knicks Coaching Search Rumors: One more broadcast for Kerr, and another job opening

We heard previously that Steve Kerr would broadcast Monday's game in Oklahoma City, then move on to making his decision about the Knicks job. Somewhere along the line, the next game in OKC got tacked on, and this morning's Frank Isola report is that Kerr will head home after Wednesday night, THEN make his decision:

Kerr, who is the leading candidate to become head coach of the Knicks, is in Oklahoma City working the Thunder-Clippers second-round series and plans to return home to San Diego following Game 2 on Wednesday. It is believed that Kerr will make a decision either Thursday or Friday.

"A lot of people keep saying its a done deal but there is a lot to consider," said a person close to Kerr. "This is a big decision in his life."

Now, we heard from the very beginning that one of Kerr's foremost hangups was the location of the Knicks franchise all the way over on the yuckier side of the United States. He likes California. As fortune would have it, two high-profile (if not necessarily appealing) coaching gigs have opened up in California: The Lakers fired Mike D'Antoni last week and the Warriors fired Mark Jackson a few minutes ago. Isola, like everyone else, suggests L.A. and Golden State as alternatives. Tim Kawakami just said this, for what it's worth:

Steve Kerr will get strong consideration due to his ties with the Lacobs, but I'm told there is some debate about his candidacy.

— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 6, 2014

There's also the distinct possibility that Kerr could use one of those other openings as leverage to get more money from the Knicks. Since we're now several weeks into this search and haven't heard a single other name besides Kerr's, it's reasonable to assume that Kerr is Phil Jackson's favorite and that Jackson would push James Dolan to pay up if it came to that. Who knows. We don't even know if Kerr is really considering those other jobs. It's not like he gave Rookie of the Year votes to Ryan Kelly and Nemanja Nedovic, you know?

(Li'l updates):

Steve Kerr was keeping an eye on Warriors, among other teams. If they offer, he's got a tough decision between NY and GS.

— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) May 6, 2014

And via Woj:

Kerr's preference is to advance into negotiations with New York president Phil Jackson on coaching the Knicks, sources said, but he hasn't ruled out discussing the Warriors' opening

Meanwhile, Mark Jackson is now a free agent, and I guess because he was a candidate last time the Knicks had a real opening, internet people are already wondering if the Knicks will pursue him. We have no source yet suggesting there is any mutual interest there, nor do we have any reason to believe there will be since Jackson seems to prefer his own bros and he shares no history with Jac-- ...oh shit, they have the same last name. This would never work.

To summarize: The strongest possibility, to my eye, is Steve Kerr accepting the Knicks job at the end of this week. Or maybe he'll bail and join one of the Cali teams, leaving the Knicks at square one. Or maybe he's just using those offers to shake the Knicks' pockets. The offseason!

Update:

The Warriors have already contacted Steve Kerr, according to a league source. Knicks have not reached out to Mark Jackson.

— Frank Isola (@FisolaNYDN) May 6, 2014