Coming into the 2025-26 season, many New York Knicks followers had been curious to see the adjustments made throughout the offseason. One of many largest adjustments the Knicks made was to interchange former coach Tom Thibodeau with Mike Brown and to bolster their bench.
Beneath Brown, the Knicks had been anticipated to play a lot sooner than they did final season, however the reverse has occurred to date. Throughout the preseason, the Knicks had the slowest tempo within the NBA, worse than even their Twenty sixth-ranked tempo from final season.
Preseason however. …after Mike Brown pushed taking part in quick as his most essential pillar, the Knicks are thirty first in tempo in preseason, forward of just one NBA crew and behind two groups from Australia.
— Stefan Bondy (@SbondyNBA) October 19, 2025
Clearly, it is solely the preseason, however which may not be signal for New York’s offense this season.
The New York Knicks’ offense is already struggling
By 5 preseason video games, the Knicks ranked twenty seventh in offensive ranking, resulting in considerations about whether or not they’ll battle this season. Preseason is not at all times predictive, with groups typically taking part in uncommon lineups, however the early returns of a Brown-led offense have not been encouraging.
Based on Brown, he plans to have a nine- or 10-man rotation, which can embody a number of new gamers. That may result in some rising pains as they work to include these gamers in addition to the crew learns a brand new offense.
In the long term, they could possibly be higher off with New York beforehand having a smaller than common rotation. Taking part in extra gamers places much less put on and tear on their starters, one thing that was a giant concern throughout the Thibodeau period.
They may even have Mitchell Robinson to start out the season after he missed the primary three months of final season. That could be a big deal, contemplating it provides them extra choices.
A deeper New York Knicks crew will probably be higher off in the long term
They might begin Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Cities, and Robinson, giving them an enormous entrance court docket. Final season, that lineup was higher defensively than the lineup that includes Josh Hart, whereas the Hart lineup was higher offensively.
With loads of guard depth and the addition of Guerschon Yabusele, who can play alongside Cities or Robinson, depth will not be an issue. Brown can combine and match as wanted with out sacrificing manufacturing.
The offense is certainly a piece in progress, with the Knicks hoping to develop into much less Brunson-centric. That might repay within the playoffs with them hitting a wall. Tweaking their offense to finally play sooner and focusing much less on one participant could possibly be simply what they should do.
With the Japanese Convention broad open, they’ve an actual likelihood of constructing the NBA Finals for the primary time in additional than 25 years, however provided that their offense kicks into excessive gear.
