Another link to San Antonio is expected to interview for the Knicks coaching job – young Spurs assistant Will Hardy.
An NBA source confirmed the Spurs granted the Knicks permission to speak to Hardy, 31, who is currently a Gregg Popovich assistant coach and some believe could be his heir apparent.
The Knicks have expanded their coaching search to include four assistants with no head-coaching experience. Three of the four new candidates are represented by Creative Artists Agency’s basketball department, which Knicks president Leon Rose used to run.
One of those is Ime Udoka, a former Knicks small forward who left the Spurs as an assistant of seven seasons to join the Sixers’ bench last season.
A source told The Post Udoka partly left because he didn’t see himself as Popovich’s successor. Hardy, Becky Hammon and Tim Duncan could be next in line after Popovich, 71.
Hardy, who is a Williams College graduate, is in his 10th season with the Spurs – the last four as an assistant coach. Prior, he was a video coordinator and a scout.
Last month, The Post reported Hammon was a name to watch for an interview but she, too, has been mentioned as a Popovich heir apparent. An NBA source says she is not expected to interview for the job as she prepares for the NBA restart, which includes San Antonio.
The Knicks have eight known candidates with Tom Thibodeau still the frontrunner. The Knicks currently have no competition for Thibodeau with 22 teams heading to the Orlando restart, so the Knicks can take their time and get familiar with younger assistants around the league for the future.
The Knicks probably won’t make a decision until July and they are awaiting word from the NBA on if they can stage their own OTAs during the 22 training camps.
Of the seven outside candidates not including interim coach Mike Miller, six are from CAA, including Kenny Atkinson, Mike Woodson and Thibodeau. It was reported Wednesday Magic assistant Pat Delany of CAA and Bulls assistant Chris Fleming would interview, too.
The Knicks interviewed 11 candidates in 2018 when GM Scott Perry was also part of the process. Most of those were considered courtesy interviews. The Knicks will likely interview between eight-to-10 candidates this time.
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“It’s mostly for show,” one NBA source said. “They’re being sure they cross every tee and dot every [I] to make it a perfect process.”
Udoka’s candidacy gave the process more diversity. Of the eight known candidates, two are African-American – Woodson and Udoka, who is from Nigeria.
The NBA has been concerned about its lack of African-American head coaches and there’s been heightened sensitivity in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests. Owner James Dolan was taken to task for not immediately releasing a statement on racial inequality like the other 29 NBA teams.
Former Knicks coach David Fizdale was one of just eight African-American head coaches at the season’s start and he was fired in December.