The New York Knicks will enter the 2025-26 season with extremely lofty expectations.
The East appears wide open after Achilles injuries to Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton and Damian Lillard in the playoffs put a damper on three of the top expected contenders hopes for next season. And fresh off a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Knicks (+300) are just behind the Cavaliers (+275) for the top betting odds in the East, according to BetMGM.
The man tasked with getting the Knicks over the hump and back into the Finals for the first time since 1999 is Mike Brown. Brown is taking over for Tom Thibodeau, who was fired shortly after the Knicks’ loss to the Pacers in the conference finals.
Brown met with the New York media for the first time on Tuesday, and he is well aware of the expectations in front of him. The new Knicks coach put on a coach-speak masterclass in Manhattan, but did shed a bit of light on what we’ll see from the Knicks this coming season.
These are the three biggest takeaways from Brown’s introductory press conference.
Blending his style with Jalen Brunson, Knicks’ personnel
Brown’s Kings teams were known for pushing the pace — though they slowed down to the middle of the pack the past two seasons — while the Knicks have perennially been at the bottom of the NBA’s pace rankings under Thibodeau. As such, one of the biggest questions after Brown’s hire was how he’d blend his preferred pace with the Knicks’ personnel. While some of that is coaching, it also seems to be the preference of Jalen Brunson to slow things down and isolate.
Brown was asked how that will work and didn’t shy away from his desire for the Knicks to play fast, but also noted that having Brunson allows you to play “all different types of ways.”
“The first thing is, everybody knows I like to play fast,” Brown said. “Like I said, we have an outstanding roster. I’m excited about that. And to have a guy like Jalen out there gives you the versatility to play all different types of ways, which is what it’s going to take throughout the course of a ball game. “
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We’ll find out what the push-pull of that relationship is, but it’s safe to assume the Knicks will not be a bottom-five team in pace again next season. Still, Brown seems aware that he can’t force a square peg in a round hole, and spoke about the need to balance one’s personal coaching philosophy with the talents of the roster.
“I think you have a philosophy on both ends of the floor, but you have to make sure that it fits with your personnel,” Brown said. “So, it’s ever-evolving and it will be here once our roster is final, our staff is final. We’ll lay the groundwork or the foundation for what we’re going to do going forward as a unit.”
Brown also was asked about how Mitchell Robinson and Karl-Anthony Towns pair together in the frontcourt, and highlighted how they both space the floor in different ways.
“Once I get my staff together and dive more into it, we’ll figure out all those types of things,” Brown said. “I’m excited that they’re both on the team, because they’re two different players. Mitchell is a vertical threat. KAT, as you know, is a spacing threat. So to have the versatility that those two guys bring to the table is going to be a lot of fun.”
Brown spoke about versatility a couple of times and highlighted how the additions of Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele will fit into the equation as well. Reading between the lines of Brown talking about Robinson and Towns’ differing skillsets and the desire to play fast, it seems likely he will open up the rotation more than Thibodeau did and try more different combinations.
Embracing title expectations and core tenets of Finals teams
With the Knicks firing a coach that just got them to their first conference finals appearance in 25 years, there is no doubt that this is a “title or bust” job for Brown. That is a tough situation to walk into, but Brown is viewing it as an exciting opportunity rather than a challenge — and isn’t ducking the expectations.
“Nobody has bigger expectations, first of all, than I do. I mean, my expectations are high,” Brown said. “But I mean, this is the Knicks. I talked about Madison Square Garden being iconic. I talked about our fans. I love and embrace the expectations that come along with it. So I’m looking forward to it.”
As for how he’ll accomplish that goal, Brown highlighted his four pillars of championship-caliber teams that he’s seen from his past experiences.
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“I’ve been to six Finals with three different teams,” Brown said. “And the commonality that they all had is they all sacrifice for one another. They’re all connected. The connectivity, it’s at the highest and it starts with ownership on down. They all have a competitive spirit, and there’s a high level of belief not just in the process but each other. So those four things are common amongst the teams that I’ve been with that have participated in the Finals.”
For Knicks teams wondering what the main talking points will be from Brown this year, there are your new free spaces on the press conference bingo board.
Evolving as a coach as the NBA changes
Brown was asked about how he’s seen the NBA evolve since he’s been coaching and he focused his answer on the ways you learn and grow as a coach and adapt to where the game changes.
“I mean, I can go far back. My first bench job was with the Washington Bullets. They were still called the Bullets back then,” Brown said. “We had Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and Tracy Murray and those guys — Tim Legler — and you learn a lot from not just your experience as a coach with the other coaches there, but also from the players.
“When I was in San Antonio with David [Robinson] and Tim [Duncan] it was about playing inside out. And now, fast forward to my time with Steve [Kerr], it’s about pace and space. And that’s where the game is, and like I said, if you can’t evolve, you’re going to get left behind. And so, I feel like I’m trying to do that and hopefully we’ll be able to bring some of that here.”
This answer was perhaps the one Knicks fans were most excited to hear, as this did not seem to be the philosophy of Thibodeau. For all his success, it always felt like there was a ceiling on what the Knicks could do because they weren’t playing a style conducive to the modern game. That shouldn’t be the problem with Brown, but that’s not a guarantee this will result in a parade through Manhattan.
There will be things lost in Thibodeau’s absence, but the Knicks believe Brown will bring enough change and upgrades offensively to make up for potential steps back in other areas.
