Knicks Coach Ranked Among Most Anticipated Newcomers

The NBA offseason's major moves have all come and gone, leaving fans to spend the final month scrounging through the mildly-undesirable remaining free agents and reminiscing on the wild exchanges that went down earlier this summer.

A quick skim through the New York Knicks' rosters between their previous season and their upcoming rotation may indicate that they kept it subtle this offseason, with role-playing shooters like Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson sticking out as the only Knicks who weren't on the team's depth chart during the 2024-25 season.

They did spend considerable time on their head coaching situation, though, determining shortly after their playoff elimination that they were better off without Tom Thibodeau. After a month of scanning the market for potential replacements, they landed on another multiple-time Coach of the Year-winner in Mike Brown, with his strong resume combining with the Knicks' contending situation to make him one of the most anticipated new faces to look out for in 2025-26.

ESPN certainly considers him on the same level as some of the offseason's other big-name additions. Star scorers and much-needed role players like Kevin Durant, Desmond Bane and Cam Johnson took the list's top three spots, but Brown lagged not far behind as the critically-acclaimed coach who's set to take over one of the Eastern Conference's top squads.

"Perhaps no coach in the league will face as much title-or-bust pressure as Brown this season," Chris Herring wrote. "One indication of that: Upon announcing the decision to fire Brown's predecessor, Tom Thibodeau, Knicks president Leon Rose said, 'Our organization is singularly focused on winning a championship for our fans.' "