Via NY Daily News:
The Knicks are moving closer to hiring former Hawks head coach Mike Woodson as an assistant coach, which will fuel speculation that Woodson may one day succeed Mike D'Antoni as the team's head coach.
Although Woodson's last Atlanta team was criticized for its failure to make defensive adjustments when getting bombed by Orlando in the 2010 playoffs, the former first-round pick of the Knicks will join D'Antoni's staff as a defensive coach.
The Daily News first reported in May that D'Antoni, who has resisted bringing in an outsider to his coaching staff, would be forced to hire a defensive coach because of the Knicks' failures at that end during his first three seasons in New York.
In the past few days, Woodson had told two confidantes that he expects to join the Knicks. The move might become official next week, according to sources, when Garden and team executives return from vacation. Woodson had what he called a good meeting with D'Antoni earlier this month, but he had people above D'Antoni in his corner from the start.
Woodson's hiring was recommended by Isiah Thomas, a long-time friend and former teammate who continues to serve as Garden chairman Jim Dolan's top unpaid consultant.
Woodson could be in line to move to the head coaching position in the future. D'Antoni has only one year remaining on his contract, as his requests for an extension in this off-season have been rejected by Dolan.
Woodson's alliance with Thomas goes back more than 30 years, when he helped Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight recruit Thomas to Indiana. Additionally, Woodson is also a former teammate of interim GM Glen Grunwald. Although there has been speculation that the Knicks are looking for a permanent, GM Grunwald is signed through the 2011-12 season. Meanwhile. the team still has made no move to replace Donnie Walsh, who was forced out as team president in a contract dispute with Dolan in June.
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