Will Jeff Hornacek Be Puppet or Puppeteer for Phil Jackson, NY Knicks?

Give New York Knicks team president Phil Jackson this: The man knows how to cast smokescreens.

In what can only be described as a shocking turn of events, the Knicks are just about set to hire former Phoenix Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek to be their next sideline-ambler, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck.

Nothing is official, but a source tells Beck it’s only a matter of time before that changes:

On Hornacek-Knicks: It’s “as close as humanly possible,” per source, tho not official. Deal is expected soon, barring any unforeseen snags.

— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) May 18, 2016

For Jackson’s next trick, he will now mostly, or wholly, bury his loyalty to the triangle offense. He has to…right?

Or does he expect Hornacek, like Derek Fisher and Kurt Rambis before him, to be the next malleable vessel through which he imparts his own agenda?

The Knicks have been linked to Jackson’s battle-tested system since he grabbed the franchise’s reins in March 2014. And he essentially canned Fisher, a branch off his own coaching tree, because the first-time head honcho didn’t properly utilize the various triangle resources, including Jackson, at his disposal.

Hence why Fisher’s now-temporary replacement, Rambis, was considered the favorite to land this gig. He has deep-seated ties to the triangle, and Jackson closed the 2015-16 campaign driving his bandwagon. 

Even as Jackson expanded his coaching search in recent weeks, interviewing higher-profile candidates like David Blatt, Frank Vogel and Hornacek, it seemed unlikely, if impossible, that he would hire anyone other than Rambis—especially after Golden State Warriors assistant Luke Walton, another triangle disciple, agreed to become head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.

“Jackson wants the Knicks to run the triangle and even held a two-day triangle seminar a week after the season for approximately 10 players,” the New York Daily News’ Frank …

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