The New York Knicks have offered their coaching job to Mike Brown and are working to finalize a deal with the two-time NBA Coach of the Year, a person with knowledge of the details said Wednesday.

Brown would replace Tom Thibodeau, who was fired last month despite leading the Knicks to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 25 years.

Brown had his second interview with the Knicks on Tuesday before the job was offered, the person told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the search were to remain private.

The plan to hire Brown was first reported by ESPN.

Brown earned his second award as the NBA’s top coach after leading Sacramento to the playoffs in 2022-23 — ending what was the league’s longest postseason drought with its first appearance since 2006 — but the Kings fired him nearly halfway through last season.

He would take over a Knicks team that believes it can contend for the NBA title and made it clear that was the only goal when it made the surprising decision to fire Thibodeau, who like Brown is a two-time winner of the NBA’s Coach of the Year award.

The Knicks quickly identified Brown as a candidate they wanted to speak with, while also discussing the job with former Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins and current assistants James Borrego of New Orleans and Micah Nori of Minnesota before offering the position to Brown.

Brown was honored with his first coaching award when he coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team he led to the NBA Finals in 2007 during his first stint with the organization. He also coached the Los Angeles Lakers and is 454-304 in his career.

Brown also won four championships as an assistant coach, three with the Golden State Warriors and one under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio.

MAVS SIGN FLAGG

The Dallas Mavericks have signed No. 1 overall draft pick Cooper Flagg to his four-year rookie contract, and a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday the club is bringing back guard Dante Exum on a one-year contract.

The team didn’t disclose details in announcing Flagg’s deal. The total value of the contract for the top pick on the 2025-26 rookie wage scale is in the range of $62.7 million, with a first-year salary of about $13.8 million, according to Spotrac. Those numbers can fluctuate slightly.

There are team options in the third and fourth seasons of rookie deals.

The Mavericks will have to clear a roster spot to re-sign Exum, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Dallas can’t yet sign the eight-year veteran. Exum, who is set for his third season with the Mavs, will help fill the void in the backcourt while Kyrie Irving recovers from a torn ACL.

Flagg said during his introductory news conference last week that he intends to play in the Summer League in Las Vegas later this month. The Mavericks’ Summer League opener against the Lakers and Bronny James is set to be nationally televised on July 10.

Grizzlies’ Jackson Jr. has toe surgery

Memphis Grizzlies All-Star big man Jaren Jackson Jr. is recovering from surgery for a turf toe injury and will be re-evaluated in about 12 weeks. The team announced that Jackson’s surgery was complete, coming a day after saying the 25-year-old would need a procedure after hurting his right foot while participating in offseason basketball activities.

Memphis said Jackson is expected to recover fully.

Vogel joins Mavs staff

The Dallas Mavericks are poised to add Frank Vogel to coach Jason Kidd’s staff in a reunion for a tandem that won an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, a person with knowledge of the agreement said Wednesday night.

Vogel was the head coach and Kidd one of his assistants when the Lakers won their 17th championship in the Florida “bubble.” The roles will be reversed this time, with Vogel serving as associate head coach after spending this past season as a consultant for the Mavericks. Both coaches are 52.

POP’S RECORD

The NBA has adjusted all-time wins leader Gregg Popovich’s career record as coach of the San Antonio Spurs, removing the 77 games that he missed last season and crediting those wins and losses to new Spurs coach Mitch Johnson.

Popovich’s final record has been reset to 1,390-824, which is where it was entering a game on Nov. 2. That was the day that Popovich had a stroke at the team’s arena in San Antonio and Johnson, one of his assistant coaches, took over as acting coach.

Popovich missed the remainder of the season and Johnson coached the final 77 games, going 32-45. The NBA and the Spurs agreed that it made sense to remove those games from Popovich’s record and credit them to Johnson, who was named head coach when Popovich announced his retirement earlier this year.