Former Cleveland Cavaliers head coach David Blatt has been hired by the New York Knicks as a basketball operations consultant. The Knicks made an official announcement on Wednesday which included a statement from Blatt, who revealed that he is officially retiring from coaching.
"I look forward to the next step in my career as I officially retire from coaching and pursue other opportunities in basketball. I've long been intrigued by working in a front office and thank Steve [Knicks President Steve Mills] and Scott [General Manager Scott Perry] for the opportunity to be a resource to the basketball operations staff."
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According to Knicks reporter Ian Begley, Blatt will help with scouting and the team's G League affiliate, but he is not expected to play a role in coaching. The team has gone 3-3 since assistant Mike Miller took over for former coach David Fizdale, but they're still among the bottom five teams in the league with an overall record of 7-21.
Knicks fans have been calling for the firing of team president Steve Mills for some time now, and it remains to be seen what the hiring of Blatt means for Mills' future with the team. As noted by Begley, Blatt, Mills and Craig Robinson (the Knicks’ VP of player development) all played college ball together at Princeton.
Mills, who served as the Knicks' general manager from 2013-17, was promoted to president once Scott Perry took over as GM. Since then, the Knicks have won a grand total of 53 games.
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