In an ideal Madison Square Garden world, the Knicks already would have made the phone calls, held the talks and had a coach ready to put into place when they fired Tom Thibodeau just days after the season finally came to an end.

Actually, in an ideal world for most franchises, the coach who’d stabilized the franchise and brought it to a level that had not been reached in 25 years would have enjoyed a day off and then done what he always does — gone back to work on taking the next step.

And that would have made sense if you believed the Knicks’ front office’s claims that when they put the roster together last summer, they were opening a window that with patience could end the 50-plus-year championship drought.

But that ideal world isn’t the one that the Knicks have been dragged back into. Instead, they find themselves not celebrated for the season but criticized — fairly — for slipping into a chaotic state. Just take the post on X.com by Dick Vitale.

“EMBARRASSING describes the mess in hiring a coach by the @nyknicks front office. They had a guy who has done a quality job in TOM THIBODEAU — if making a change should have your choice guy committed. Being humiliated with all they have sought is pathetic / hire Tom back !”

He followed that a day later, Friday, with this.

“In LIFE you must stand TALL & admit when you made a bad decision — hope @nyknicks hoops leaders hear me — they have screwed up the process involved in getting a coach to replace TOM THIBODEAU. Call him & say we made a big mistake & want u back. They will NOT get anyone BETTER!”

Of course, the Knicks won’t be reversing course no matter how much criticism they absorb.

Look, no one can fault the front office or the ownership if they believe that a new voice was needed to bring the team to the next level. But there are only a handful of coaches that fit that description, more successful or with a better reputation and work ethic, so you would like to think that the successor was in place — on the staff or ready to step in.

It’s not just a coach. The Knicks can part with any player, but if you were cutting Jalen Brunson or Karl-Anthony Towns, you’d better have an answer to who is taking their spot, not just that you’ll do a thorough job of searching for a replacement.

“Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement when they announced Thibodeau’s departure, adding, “ . . . Ultimately, we made the decision we feel is best for our organization moving forward.”

Again, hard to argue with, but also a little nerve-wracking for a franchise that has raised concerns that this was a step back into the decades of dysfunction rather than the success of the last five years. That success had historians searching for the last time the Knicks won a title. The last time the Knicks reached the conference finals. The last time they were in at least the conference semifinals three years in a row.

It’s the prerogative of ownership and the front office, and maybe they’re right, but they’d better be. Or we know where the constantly pointing fingers in the organization will be pointing next.

The Knicks have become the butt of jokes in recent days as they have asked for permission to speak to a procession of coaches under contract — Houston’s Ime Udoka, Minnesota’s Chris Finch, Dallas’ Jason Kidd, Atlanta’s Quin Snyder and Chicago’s Billy Donovan — and were rebuffed in each case.

A team source insisted this was part of due diligence, inquiring about the availability of all coaches who interest them, and that it was just part of a list being compiled along with unemployed coaches, college coaches and assistants.

And a league source indicated that some of the teams declining to allow the Knicks to speak to their coaches might not be the final step, but perhaps just a negotiation roadblock. And another person with knowledge of the process said Kidd and Donovan remained a possibility and Kidd is still possibly the favorite. It's just as when the team went through 13 interviews five years ago when Thibodeau was the first choice all along.

But if the Knicks can’t break through those obstacles with Kidd or Donovan — or those two don't get raises in their current jobs — and opt to settle for a coach who is already available there are certainly qualified candidates. A look at some of the candidates.

He began as a part of the San Antonio Spurs’ organization, eventually becoming coach of their G League squad before getting to the NBA as an assistant in Atlanta. After spending six seasons as an assistant to Mike Budenholzer (five years with Atlanta and then heading to Milwaukee with him), he got his chance as a head coach with Memphis and compiled a 250-214 record in six seasons before being let go with nine games left this season. He managed a tumultuous run of injuries and off-court distractions and held the team together. Oddly, the one time we’ve seen Brunson argue in-game with an opposing coach, it was Jenkins earlier this season.

Another coach let loose this season in a surprising move. Sacramento pushed him out after a 13-18 start following two seasons that produced a 90-74 record. He put together a 305-187 record in six seasons with Cleveland, including one Eastern Conference championship, as his time coincided with LeBron James’ time there. When James left, so did Brown, who took the Lakers’ job with Kobe Bryant, but he was gone after only five games the following season. Like Thibodeau, he’s a two-time Coach of the Year and coincidentally was fired after blowing a 19-point lead in a game — 10 points in the final three minutes — which is similar to the Game 1 loss to Indiana that played a part in Thibodeau’s demise.

That Malone and Jeff Van Gundy aren’t among the highest priorities — and it seems as if they’re not high on the list — is the sort of thing that brings in a lot of questions for the front office. Malone could — and should — get an interview. He grew up in the Knicks’ organization, as his father was an assistant, and then started his career as an assistant on Van Gundy’s staff. After a brief first chance as a head coach in Sacramento, he spent 10 seasons with Denver, winning an NBA title in the 2022-23 season and finishing in the top 10 five times in the coach of the year voting. But he’s also brash and outspoken. That doesn’t play well at the Garden, where falling in line too often trumps knowledge.

We pair them because they both have championships and both tried and failed to revive Phoenix. Both have solid reputations outside of their time with the Suns and certainly are worthy of getting back on the sideline.

While there are folks in the organization who are advocates for Bryant, who spent four seasons as Knicks associate head coach before departing for a similar role this season with Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson, he does not seem to be a high priority with no head-coaching experience at any level.

If you’re going to look at any assistants, why not Brunson, who not only has been a part of Thibodeau’s staff in three stops and is in the organization but also spent nine seasons playing in the NBA and is as tight with Rose as anyone in the NBA (he was his first client when Rose became an agent and remains a friend). And we all saw the work he put in with his son Jalen and the result of that.