Goaltending call lifts Wiz past Knicks in London

The future of Tom Thibodeau as head coach of the New York Knicks was in jeopardy when the playoffs began, but it was widely assumed that a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals would give him another season.

“Simply, the Knicks believe they need a new voice to take this team to the next step,” said Shams Charania on Sports Center on Tuesday. “They felt like Tom Thibodeau’s voice had waned. They simply felt like they need someone else to take this team to a championship level. That someone else will be better suited to lift this team to that threshold.

“Over the last 24 to 48 hours, the Knicks have held meetings internally about Tom Thibodeau, his future, and the rest of the roster. And today, Leon Rose, the team president, and owner James Dolan came to this decision to part ways and fire Tom Thibodeau.”

Thibodeau joins Michael Malone and Taylor Jenkins as head coaches who were fired this season despite successful track records and reasonably good records during the regular season. Charania cites the NBA’s increase in parity and the belief amongst several teams that they are close to competing for a title as the reasoning behind the dismissals.

On NBA Today on ESPN, Adrian Wojnarowski gave some insight into where things stand for Pascal Siakam and the Toronto Raptors. Siakam is considered to be one of the highest-profile players available via trade ahead of the February 8 trade deadline.

Siakam and the Raptors are “nowhere close” in extension talks, according to Wojnarowski. That has Toronto gauging his value on the trade market. However, because he’s a pending free agent, Siakam will have some say in where he plays next.

The Golden State Warriors are interested, but are cautious of giving Siakam a max deal due to their mounting payroll.

The Indiana Pacers are also interested in adding Siakam. However, the Raptors want prized young players like Bennedict Mathurin and/or Jarace Walker from the Pacers via trade. Indiana could loom as a threat to sign Siakam in free agency, should they go the cap space route.