May 29, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) celebrates a three point basket against the Indiana Pacers in game five of the eastern conference finals of the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Knicks Ruled Offseason Winners

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Aug 12, 2025 4:00 PM ET

Maintaining care when going all-in for a championship is tough in the NBA. Making that extra push of the chips requires risk, hoping that the window for contention really is as open as it looks, and the confidence to believe that the moves being made can really take advantage of the situation.

The New York Knicks have evidently toed this line as carefully as they intended, having nearly-completed an offseason that now puts them in the driver's seat for the rest of the 2020s. Their core of players, already have proven themselves as worthy candidates of winning the Eastern Conference, is locked in for long. The front office shopped for some new role players to add, and came home with a refurnished bench and a new coach in Mike Brown to continue guiding the way.

CBS Sports ran through some of the biggest winners and losers from the offseason of transactions, and gave the Knicks their credit. They were viewed as a fringe-contender by this time last year, looking like they wanted to seriously compete after adding Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges, and they've gone about specifically filling that previous team's weakness in the months since their dismissal from the 2025 playoffs.

Finding a replacement for Tom Thibodeau sat at the top of the Knicks' offseason wish list, and their new man has won near-league-wide approval as a New York fit between his qualifications and how he profiles as a help the team.

"Brown has won pretty much everywhere he's coached," Brad Botkin wrote. "He's been an assistant on multiple championship teams. He took the 2007 Cavs to the Finals. He led the Sacramento Kingsto the No. 3 seed and the franchise's first playoff berth in 16 years. If Brown does nothing else, reducing New York's dependance on Jalen Brunson creating everything by pounding the air out of the ball and actually utilizing his bench will be significant improvements."

New York Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

That major alteration to the coaching staff was made as a direct response to the Knicks' shifting focus to a more advanced offense, derived from Thoboduea's thin bench rotations and lack of offensive creativity. New Knicks Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson promise to invite some more shooting and scoring from the bench, where the team's ran into walls in the past trying to come up with such minute-eaters.

Those specific tweaks have put the Knicks in a position to consolidate the talent they've maintained with depth, the sort of moves that teams more historically competent than the Knicks have continually pulled off in setting up championship-winning playoff runs.

"In an Eastern Conference that is wide open, the Knicks, who were already two wins from the Finals, meaningfully upgraded their bench and brought in a coach who will actually use it. Good stuff," Botkin wrote.

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

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