The Knicks are close to hiring veteran Brendan O’Connor to serve as their defensive coordinator at the assistant staff, a source confirmed on Thursday.
O’Connor leaves his old house with the clippers, with whom he has served as an assistant since 2013 and will have a prime chair on Mike Brown’s couch.
He was also an assistant with the pistons during their championship run in 2004, when he worked under Larry Brown and established a relationship with the current Knicks director William Wesley.
The Knicks are still on the market for an associated head coach to lead the attack. They tried to hire James Bego, Jay Triano and Pablo Prigioni, but were either refused permission by their respective teams or were rejected by the candidate.
O’Connor, graduated from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, served under Ty Lue and, formerly, Doc Rivers for the Clippers. He also had stops with the Knicks, Hornets, Kings and Nets.
The KNICKS defense rated 13th in the NBA last season and slid five places under the 2023-24 campaign. O’Connor has the challenging task of stimulating unity with Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, two sub-average defenders.
The clippers were in defense last season, with assistants Jeff van Gundy and O’Connor considered big reasons for the success.
With O’Connor as the newest addition, Brown’s first staff with the Knicks takes shape. He brought two lower level assistants from his last performance in Sacramento: Charles Allen and Riccardo Fois.
Various holdovers of Tom Thibodeau’s staff are expected to return, including Rick Brunson, Mark Bryant, Darren Erman, Mo Cheeks and Jordan Brink.
Others are informed that they will not return. As the post reported for the first time, Dice Yoshimoto, Andy Greer, Daniel Brady and Othella Harrington are all disappeared.
Greer’s brother, Larry, was an advance reconnaissance under Thibodeau and is expected back.
According to sources, Greg St. Jean, an assistant at the Lakers, and Patrick Mutombo, who is with the Grizzlies, are considered.
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