Atlantic Notes: Rambis, Smith, Brown

Multiple executives around the league expect Knicks coach Kurt Rambis to end up having his interim tag removed, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. That’s certainly no shock, since Rambis and team president Phil Jackson are close, and Jackson has reportedly been hoping from the time Rambis became interim coach that he would ultimately prove worthy of keeping the job. The addition of Frank Vogel to the group of available coaches lends a new layer of intrigue to the Knicks coaching search, but it remains to be seen if Jackson will show any interest in the former Pacers boss, as Bondy examines.

See more from the Atlantic Division:

• The pool of free agent point guards is shallow this summer, though the Sixers also have the draft and trades to consider as they ponder whether to re-sign Ish Smith with the intention of keeping him as the starter at point guard, as Jessica Camerato of CSN Philly examines. Regardless, adviser Jerry Colangelo doesn’t doubt the impact that the Tony Dutt client had after the Christmas Eve trade that brought him back to the Sixers. “To me, it’s still amazing that when he showed up in Phoenix an hour before game time [on December 26th] that he put a uniform on and stepped out on the floor and led a team to a win, a badly needed win,” Colangelo said. “That was a shot of adrenaline for sure, and it’s carried over.”
• This year’s Celtics had the best winning percentage of any the team has had since the breakup of the Paul Pierce–Kevin Garnett–Rajon Rondo core, but for Boston to take the next step, another round of wholesale changes are necessary, argues Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com, who analyzes the summer ahead.
• All indications are that Markel Brown wants to stay with the Nets as his free agency approaches this summer, according to Anthony Parisi of NetsDaily. The second-year shooting guard saw less playing time this season than he did as a rookie, but he still displayed enough promise to warrant the team making the paltry $1,180,431 qualifying offer necessary to retain the right to match competing bids for him, Parisi contends. Brown’s minutes increased down the stretch after the dismissal of Lionel Hollins, Parisi notes. Brown played only 11 minutes over a 13-game span early in the season, prompting him to talk to Hollins about why he wasn’t seeing the court, as Parisi relays.