New York Knicks Fire Head Coach Derek Fisher

Derek Fisher (Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports)

The New York Knicks are now in the market for a new head coach.

The team fired Derek Fisher on Monday after they lost their fifth straight game. After a promising start to the season, the Knicks are just 23-31 and fading fast in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Team president Phil Jackson and general manager Steve Mills confirmed the move, while also announcing that veteran assistant Kurt Rambis will be the interim head coach.

Fisher was hired by Jackson before last season, but the Knicks struggled mightily in his first year as head coach, finishing with a 17-65 record. That means Fisher went just 40-96 in nearly two seasons as the head coach of the Knicks, which is unacceptable in a town that is starved for competitive basketball.

Just look across the Hudson River. The Brooklyn Nets are near the bottom of the NBA standings, and fired their head coach and general manager last month. Now, the Nets aren’t the only New York basketball team with an uncertain future.

With Fisher gone, is a Carmelo Anthony trade coming next? The Knicks have not won a championship since 1972-73. They have a nice building block in rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis, but not much else.  The team signed veterans Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo, and Derrick Williams during the offseason, but none are likely to garner much interest in the trade market. Dealing Anthony may help speed up the rebuilding process. Does he really want to waste the remaining years of his prime on a rebuilding team? Or does he deserve to chase a ring while playing for a contender?

Either way, the Knicks went from a borderline playoff team to a jumbled mess in a matter of weeks, and it’s up to Jackson to steer the ship back in the right direction.