New York Knicks guard Josh Hart looks to shoot over Orlando Magic guards Jett Howard and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Five Keys to Successful Knicks Season

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Jeremy Brener | Last updated Sep 3, 2025 5:00 PM ET

The New York Knicks are just over a month away from the start of the regular season, where they hope to win the franchise's first title since 1973.

Here are five keys the Knicks need in order to accomplish their goals:

Stay Healthy

This is possibly the most important bullet point of the list, but the Knicks won't go anywhere if they don't stay healthy.

As a team, they did a decent job of staying on the court as a collective last season. The hope is that good health and fortune continue, especially with the emphasis of cutting players' minutes down.

Pick Up Brown's System Quickly

New head coach Mike Brown will have the Knicks looking a little different than they did last season. There will be growing pains for the Knicks as they adjust from Tom Thibodeau's structure to Brown's.

The Knicks won't be at their peak at the beginning of the season, but their hope should be to get there by the time the team gets past the All-Star Break.

Yabusele, Clarkson Lead Knicks Bench

Philadelphia 76ers forward Guerschon Yabusele drives against Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Knicks made it their mission to improve their depth this offseason, so they signed Guerschon Yabusele from the Philadelphia 76ers and Jordan Clarkson from the Utah Jazz.

The goal is to ensure that the Knicks can play 9-10 players on a nightly basis to keep up with other contenders that have the depth to go that far into the bench.

If the pair of reserves can make an impact, the Knicks should be in better shape than they were last year.

Someone Takes Another Step

This can be Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart or even Mitchell Robinson. Ideally, it would be all of them getting better. However, if one of them can be significantly better than they were in 2024-25, the Knicks could be a truly dangerous team.

Someone needs to rise as a true sidekick for Brunson. Towns can fulfill that role like he did last year, but he needs to be more consistent if he wants to get better for the Knicks.

Brunson Remaining Elite

The Knicks will always be Brunson's team. Without him, the Knicks are not a title contender. Brunson has to be one of the top 10 players in the league in order for the Knicks to win a championship.

If he isn't, the Knicks' record will suffer and they won't be in position to compete alongside the best in the league.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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