Knicks don’t want to ‘disrupt’ their culture in pursuit of a superstar

The Athletic’s Fred Katz revealed this about the Knicks’ mindset heading into the offseason, (h/t Jordanna Clark of Daily Knicks):

“The Knicks will search for the next great player, but they also will hope not to disrupt the culture that helped most of their roster to career years and encouraged the players to keep swinging, even as if they couldn’t feel their arms,” Katz wrote.

“I think (the future) is very bright,” Josh Hart said.

The future indeed is bright in New York. Considering that they advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Semifinals with the litany of injuries they dealt on the 2024 side of the season speaks to just how much stronger they could be once 2024 All-Star Julius Randle, the NBA’s leading offensive rebounder Mitchell Robinson, and Bojan Bogdanovic return.

The Knicks’ culture is currently predicated around floor spacing and ball movement in the half-court and exceptional defense on the other end. They’ve always prided themselves on their ability to contain opposing offenses, but the fluidity of their offense was something that was lacking until this year.

Donte DiVincenzo was a major reason why that changed for the Knicks. His efficient three-point shooting, movement without the ball, and selflessness in making the extra pass when defenses collapsed helped New York shoot more efficiently, ignite runs, and play faster. Other players like OG Anunoby and Alec Burks added to that paradigm while Isaiah Hartenstein brought another layer of toughness and glass-cleaning to the Knicks’ interior.

A ball-dominant superstar may not be the answer for the Knicks

The Knicks were still a team that relied on isolation with Jalen Brunson and often let the MVP candidate get to his spots late in the shot clock. Thus, if they were to bring on a high-usage superstar next to Brunson, that could stagnate the way in which the ball moves and take touches away from key role players, a la Miles McBride. This could run the risk of throwing off their rhythms.

Of course, the reward for going all in on a generational talent outweighs the risk nine times out of ten, but the Knicks’ protection of their culture likely means that they’ll be cautious about just which superstar talent they tack on, and not just go for whichever one they can get.