It would be an easier sell for Clippers coach Doc Rivers if Kristaps Porzingis didn’t tear his ACL three weeks ago to complicate the Knicks’ rebuilding program.

But according to a former Rivers associate, it’s not far-fetched for the one-time Knicks guard to have interest in the team’s coaching job if Jeff Hornacek, who has one year left on his contract, is let go after the season.

“Doc enjoyed his time there,’’ the former associate said. “He respects the city, he respects the organization.’’

The Knicks, who are scheduled to leave for Los Angeles after Wednesday’s practice, will face Rivers’ Clippers on Friday at Staples Center.

Rivers has one year left on his contract that reportedly pays him about $10 million per season and he’d likely seek an extension in the offseason. Since he’s under contract, compensation in the form of a draft pick would be in order if Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry attempted to pursue Rivers.

Ironically, Rivers, who won the 2008 NBA title as Celtics head coach, was said to be on thin ice earlier this season after losing his GM title to Lawrence Frank and having the team get off to a poor start.

But the offseason loss of Chris Paul and the in-season blockbuster trade that sent Blake Griffin to the Pistons has the rebuilding Clippers alive and kicking at 31-27, one game out of the West’s eighth seed.

Amid LA’s reboot, Clippers consultant Jerry West said last week Rivers deserves coach-of-the-year consideration for blending newcomers, ex-Knick Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams, Tobias Harris, Milos Teodosic and Avery Bradley. Rivers still has personnel say, but league executives don’t consider that to be his strong suit.

If Rivers were to bring along Mike Woodson as his associate coach, all the better fit. A Rivers-Woodson ticket would excite the despondent Knicks fan base a whole lot more than the current Hornacek-Kurt Rambis pairing.

Woodson, Rivers’ top assistant, was the Knicks’ most successful head coach since Jeff Van Gundy quit.

Woodson guided the Knicks to a 54-28 record in 2012-13 and rallied an injury-ravaged club to within one game of the playoffs the following season by winning 12 of 15 games in March and early April. It still prompted their new team president, Phil Jackson, to replace him with the unqualified Derek Fisher, whom owner James Dolan is still paying off.

Woodson even coached Tim Hardaway Jr. during his rookie season and worked most of that year with Mills. Woodson also worked with Scott Perry in Detroit.

Dolan is said to have had a long fascination with Rivers, who played for the Knicks from 1992-95.

It all makes sense if Porzingis hadn’t suffered his catastrophic knee injury that imperils next season and could scare away a prominent coach such as Rivers, who is a fan of the 7-foot-3 Latvian.

On Nov. 20, Porzingis scored 25 points in 27 minutes in a Garden rout of the Clippers, playing one of his best two-way games. Porzingis is rehabbing at the Hospital for Special Surgery and won’t be with the club in Los Angeles.

“He’s just a beast,” Rivers said that night. “I mean he’s going to be — or he is — one of the great ones now. He’s just going to keep getting better. You look at his numbers and you forget his age, I think, and what he’s doing. It’s just a scratch. He’s going to keep getting better and better. And that’s going to be scarier for all of us.”