The New York Knicks and Jeff Hornacek have officially agreed to a three-year, $15 million contract. There is no fourth-year option on the deal according to ESPN sources. The annual value of Hornacek’s contract is higher than the approximately $4.5 million annually that Derek Fisher earned as a first-year coach under Jackson.
via ESPN:
Hornacek, 53, will be the Knicks’ fifth coach in six seasons. He will be the second coach Phil Jackson has hired since taking over as team president late in the 2013-14 season. The length of Hornacek’s contract, earlier reported by The Vertical, matches the years remaining on Jackson’s contract with the Knicks.
It will be the second head-coaching job for Hornacek, who coached the Phoenix Suns from 2013 to 2016.
Hornacek met with Jackson for several hours in Los Angeles last month and followed that meeting with a dinner in Manhattan and a tour of the club’s facility in Westchester, New York, sources say.
It is unclear if Rambis will serve as an associate head coach on Hornacek’s staff or return to the club in another capacity.
Jackson had a fondness for Hornacek as a player. As a shooting guard with the Utah Jazz, Hornacek competed against Jackson’s Chicago Bullsin two NBA Finals.
Hornacek will inherit a club that won a combined 49 games in the past two seasons.
Hornacek coached the Suns for 2½ seasons and was fired in February after the team lost 19 of 21 games and 14 straight on the road. In Hornacek’s first season in Phoenix, he led the club to 48 wins, more than doubling most Las Vegas win totals and finishing second in coach of the year voting to San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich.
Amid a rash of injuries and chemistry issues, the Suns had a 14-35 record and had fallen into 13th place in the 15-team West when Phoenix cut ties with him.
