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Knicks Didn’t Make Much Noise — They Made Smart Moves

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Svyato Rovenchuk | Last updated Jul 23, 2025 4:04 PM ET

The New York Knicks were not under a lot of pressure to make changes after what many would have deemed a fairly successful 2025-26 season. Despite that, they have been far from inactive.

New York chose to swap bench bosses. The Knicks gave defensive-minded head coach Tom Thibodeau the boot in favor of the offensive-oriented Mike Brown.

They also worked further themselves away from Thibodeau's coaching style by bringing in support to the second unit that should allow for more balanced rotations in 2025-26. The additions of Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele certainly will not hurt.

All of this allowed Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report to feel pretty comfortable about giving the Knicks a respectable grade of B- for their offseason evaluation. The NBA writer thought the offseason was full of small victories.

Small moves can go a long way for the Knicks

Hughes wrote, "Though Clarkson may not have much left at 33, he's still an upgrade over Cam Payne as an off-the-bench generator of offense. Yabusele's spacing-and-bulk combo should make him an ideal complement to either Mitchell Robinson or Karl-Anthony Towns."

The writer also believed that a Mikal Bridges extension would add to the success of the offseason. Although, the growing desire to add Giannis Antetokounmpo may be too much to get that moving just yet.

Even if things remain as they are now, the Knicks should feel pretty comfortable about where they are as a team. They were two wins away from an NBA Finals appearance and will have a wide-open path to having that opportunity once more in 2025-26.

Injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton have made the Knicks a likeable favorite to come out of the Eastern Conference next season. Capitalizing on that potential will have the masses of New York cautiously optimistic about what 2025-26 could bring.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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