Getting Cheeky

The Knicks make an assistant coaching hire.

Good morning! We have some news on Tom Thibodeau’s bench for next season, plus several mailbag questions to end the week. Let’s get to it…

News & Notes

New York’s coaching staff got a new addition.

Maurice “Mo” Cheeks was a Hall of Fame player who played in Philly for most of his career but also spent parts of two seasons with the Knicks. He had head coaching stints in both Portland, Philadelphia and Detroit, and has been an assistant for the Bulls since 2020.

According to Fred Katz, Cheeks is a long time friend with Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, and Stefan Bondy reports that Cheeks also has a lengthy relationship with William Wesley. Bondy also notes that Cheeks and Thibodeau coached the Sixers together in the ‘90s. Ryan Raylor of NBC Sports Chicago wrote that Cheeks was planning on taking more of an advisory role with the Bulls this season, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to come to New York, where he has family in the area.

Friday Mailbag

We start today with a question from Sean:

If we do lose Hartenstein, do you think that increases the chances of a KAT trade, given the dearth of center options around the league for the MLE? It would be a helluva sea change... but not sure what the other options look like.

An analogy, if you will…

I just turned 41. Not quite mid-life crisis territory but pretty close to it. Close enough that I can envision starting to lose my hair one day and going out and buying a Ferrari the next.

(If I could afford a Ferrari. And didn’t live in Brooklyn. So maybe a jazzed out electric scooter is more my wavelength.)

In any case, trading for KAT after losing Hartenstein would be Leon Rose’s Ferrari equivalent.