Steve Kerr will be behind the TNT microphone Tuesday night in Oklahoma City for Game 5 — and likely will still be without an agreement in principle to coach the Knicks.
Even though the Warriors have been all but out of the picture for several days, financial terms of a contract still have not been worked out between Kerr and the Knicks, who seem to be in no rush.
An NBA source said there’s a possibility negotiations could drag on even beyond Wednesday.
Kerr’s camp had figured a resolution would have come by last Friday. But there doesn’t seem a great urgency from the Knicks because Kerr isn’t ready to work full-time for the club until after the Western Conference finals end in early June.
Kerr, as The Post reported, has decided to finish out his contractual duties with TNT and work the West finals with Marv Albert.
The Chicago pre-draft combine begins Thursday, but head coaches don’t always attend. The Knicks don’t have a first- or second-round pick, but will look to buy one at the end of the draft. Phil Jackson is expected to go to Chicago.
Kerr could still show up even without a signed contract. Kerr and Albert will do Game 5 Tuesday between the Clippers and Thunder, and aren’t scheduled again until Sunday for Game 7, if necessary.
The Post reported last week Kerr preferred the Knicks over Golden State because of his ties to Jackson, but that contract details still had to be ironed out. Agent Mike Tannebaum hoped to use the Warriors’ interest as negotiating leverage. But Golden State never made Kerr a formal offer.
What is Kerr worth? That’s the $24 million question. The Post has reported Kerr’s agent was looking for in the neighborhood of Mike D’Antoni money when the former Suns coached inked a four-year, $24 million pact to come to New York. However, there’s belief the Knicks were hesitant about spending that kind of cash on a big name with no head-coaching experience, even as an assistant. Still, Kerr is the perfect fit for Jackson and held a higher position as the Suns president/GM/minority owner.
After D’Antoni departed, Woodson signed a modest three-year pact for about $3.3 million per season. Woodson had fired his agent Keith Glass before the negotiations to hire C.A.A.’s Terry Price. Glass has subsequently told The Post he would have sought at least a three-year, $15 million pact.
This is Jackson’s first negotiation as a team president. He’s facing the former Jets GM, Tannenbaum, who was known as a hardnosed negotiator in the NFL.