Steve Kerr still considers the Knicks the clear frontrunner to be his next employer and is awaiting formal contract details before any deal to make him the team’s coach can become official, an NBA source told The Post on Sunday.
The Kerr camp is hoping a resolution can be reached this week, perhaps as soon as Monday or Tuesday. However, no press conference can be held until after Tuesday because Kerr will be in Oklahoma City for TNT calling Game 5 of the Clippers-Thunder second-round playoff series.
As has been reported by The Post since Mark Jackson got fired by the Warriors last week, Kerr prefers the Knicks to the Warriors because of the allure of coaching the triangle offense under new team president Phil Jackson.
Terms of a contract still haven’t been worked out. Kerr’s agent is Mike Tannenbaum, the former Jets GM known in NFL circles as a hard-nosed negotiator.
Golden State is not completely out of the picture for Kerr in case talks break down with the Knicks, but indications are they have moved on because of the Kerr-Knicks negotiations. The Warriors are interviewing Stan Van Gundy and Lionel Hollins later this week. Van Gundy may have been Golden State’s top choice all along.
Even if an agreement is reached early this week, Kerr, as first reported by The Post, plans on finishing out his TNT duties through to the Western Conference finals, which could end in early June. The Knicks are OK with such an arrangement.