Coming into the 2025-26 season, many New York Knicks followers had been curious to see the adjustments made through the offseason. One of many greatest adjustments the Knicks made was to switch former coach Tom Thibodeau with Mike Brown and to bolster their bench.
Below Brown, the Knicks had been anticipated to play a lot quicker than they did final season, however the reverse has occurred so far. Through 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 vital 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 a very good signal for New York’s offense this season.
The New York Knicks’ offense is already struggling
By means of 5 preseason video games, the Knicks ranked twenty seventh in offensive ranking, resulting in issues about whether or not they may wrestle this season. Preseason is not at all times predictive, with groups usually taking part in uncommon lineups, however the early returns of a Brown-led offense have not been encouraging.
In accordance with Brown, he plans to have a nine- or 10-man rotation, which can embody a number of new gamers. That can 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 may very well be higher off with New York beforehand having a smaller than common rotation. Enjoying extra gamers places much less put on and tear on their starters, one thing that was a giant concern through 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 may be a large deal, contemplating it provides them extra choices.
A deeper New York Knicks crew shall 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 unquestionably a piece in progress, with the Knicks hoping to change into much less Brunson-centric. That would repay within the playoffs with them hitting a wall. Tweaking their offense to finally play quicker and focusing much less on one participant may very well be simply what they should do.
With the Japanese Convention broad open, they’ve an actual likelihood of creating the NBA Finals for the primary time in additional than 25 years, however provided that their offense kicks into excessive gear.
