Despite back-to-back 50-win seasons, whispers about Tom Thibodeau's future in New York had percolated for months.

During Wednesday’s debate, each candidate had to pick a side on the thumbs up/thumbs down binary about the New York Knicks’ decision to fire Thibodeau following their Eastern Conference finals defeat to the Indiana Pacers. Seven candidates did not agree with the Knicks’ move, while Michael Blake had the backs of James Dolan and Leon Rose.

There will be no shortage of candidates. Colleague Sam Quinn made the case for seven candidates that could be in the running, starting with recently fired Denver Nuggets coach Michael Malone. But the Knicks may also have some interest in coaches who are already employed with other teams, and I'm not talking about assistants.