The New York Knicks could consider hiring former Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks in the hope of attracting Kevin Durant to move to the Big Apple when he becomes a free agent this summer.

According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, Brooks is an intriguing option for the Knicks because they were led to believe that hiring the former Thunder coach will increase their chances of acquiring Durant, who will become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.

The Knicks, who are expected to be among the most active teams on the free agent market this offseason, were considered as a strong candidate to land Durant this summer because of his ties with Derek Fisher, who was his teammate in Oklahoma City for three seasons. However, the Knicks recently fired Fisher after a poor start this season, naming Kurt Rambis as interim coach.

The ESPN report indicated that New York's chances of getting Durant "took a hit" after Fisher was booted out, but the Knicks could get the former Most Valuable Player's attention by hiring Brooks as their next coach.

Brooks coached the Thunder for seven years before he was fired after the 2014-15 season. The 50-year-old was not included on the initial list of possible candidates for the Knicks coaching job, as Jackson is reportedly looking for a coach who will still run the triangle offense, which helped the Hall of Famer win 11 titles as a coach.

After firing Fisher, reports indicated that Jackson will likely hire current Golden State Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton or former Denver Nuggets head coach Brian Shaw, who both played under him during his days as Los Angeles Lakers head coach.

However, the list expanded after Jackson shared a long post on Twitter, hinting that he could decide to hire a coach who will not focus on the triangle.

"There should be a system of play that includes the group," Jackson wrote. "How that is done can include the (triangle) system of basketball, but doesn't exclude other systems that include group play."

In the event Jackson decides to hire a coach outside of his list of triangle disciples, ESPN named former Chicago Bulls coach Tim Thibodeau, former Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek, former Warriors coach Mark Jackson, former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt and veteran Jeff Van Gundy as possible candidates for the coaching vacancy.

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