Next Move for the New York Knicks: Who’s Stepping Up and Who’s Taking a Step Down?
The New York Knicks have had one of the most successful postseasons in recent years, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years. After keeping the core group of players, the Knicks are gearing up for another successful season, where they can make it all the way. However, after the firing of previous head coach Tom Thibodeau and the hiring of Mike Brown, there are going to be changes made to how the Knicks play. Let's take a look at who's taking a step up and who's taking a step back.
Karl-Anthony Towns had a revival season once he was traded to the New York Knicks. The Big Bodega finished the season averaging a 24-point double-double and looked fantastic in his new role. As great as he looked in his first year, he's going to improve even more in his second year in orange and blue. KAT's most significant weakness has always been his defensive shortcomings. During his tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves, they found the best way to hide this was to run a double big lineup with Rudy Gobert. When he was traded to the Knicks, it was speculated that they could also run a double big lineup with Mitchell Robinson. While Robinson isn't the defensive cornerstone that Gobert is, he certainly isn't a weak defender. However, they barely ran this lineup last season due to Robinson recovering from an injury he suffered in the 2023-2024 playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers. With Robinson coming into the season healthy, KAT can start the year off playing the four and take advantage of his size and agility for a big man.
With the Knicks running a double big lineup, Josh Hart will likely have to be moved to the bench. While it's a shame that the fan favorite will lose his starter minutes, Hart will still be an influential part of the team's success. Mike Brown has been shown to play a deeper roster than Thibbs and will put more focus on the bench unit. Hart will thrive against the weaker bench units, and if he was able to average close to a double-double against starters, then he should be able to do the same from the bench with enough minutes. If he can average a double-double off the bench and close to five assists, which would be a drop from last year, then he has a strong argument to win the Sixth Man of the Year Award. This would be a fair trade-off for losing his starter spot.
While it may come off as blasphemous at first to say that the captain and star point guard Jalen Brunson may take his foot off the gas, it isn't as reasonable as it seems. One of the biggest criticisms the Knicks had was that they relied too much on Brunson's iso scoring. On a team where at least four of the starters are capable of comfortably averaging 15+, it's unreasonable to put that much of the scoring responsibility on Brunson. To clarify, in the 2025-2026 season, Brunson will be just as clutch a scorer as he was last season, and if needed, he can put the offense on his back and carry the Knicks through stretches. However, it won't be the first option because Mike Brown won't run an offense that strenuous on his top star.
Although it's likely Brunson will take a step back from scoring, he's primed to take a step up as a floor facilitator through his passing. While not a talking point on his game, Brunson is quietly one of the most efficient passers in the league. In the 2024-2025 season, he finished 11th in assists per game, while he was 47th in turnovers. When he decided to pass the ball, he was great at finding the right moments to capitalize on his teammates being open, while minimizing damaging turnovers. In the 2025-2026 season, if his passing is focused on more, he may drop to the top 15 in scoring and move up to the top ten in assists.
