Winners, losers from NBA playoffs: Knicks sweep Cavaliers

Leon Rose, New York Knicks

Leon Rose took over as team president of the Knicks in 2020. Since then, here are some of his most significant moves:

• Traded for Miles McBride and Immanuel Quickley on draft night in 2021.
• Traded out of the 2022 draft to add extra first-round picks
• Signed Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein as free agents in 2022.
• Traded for Josh Hart in 2023.
• Signed Donte DiVincenzo in summer 2023.
• Traded Quickley and RJ Barrett for OG Anunoby in Dec. 2023.
• Traded six first-round picks, using part of the 2022 draft surplus, for Mikal Bridges in 2024.
• Traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Karl-Anthony Towns.

It's a remarkable series of moves and ones that went against the Knicks' history of impulsive, short-term, high-cost moves. Rose zeroed in on Brunson in 2022, picked up Brunson's college teammates Hart and Bridges in trades and boldly swapped Randle and DiVincenzo for Towns. 

Rose made risky moves, but ones that were validated by the Knicks 2025 trip to the conference finals. Now he's built the Knicks' first Finals team in 27 years.

Josh Hart, New York Knicks

Josh Hart put up only six points in the Game 4 win while seemingly being everywhere on the court. He had 11 rebounds and gave out six assists, while stealing the ball twice. In a game where the Knicks made nearly half of their shots, their 20-6 advantage on the offensive glass truly crushed the Cavaliers — and the 6-foot-5 guard grabbed four of them.

TV ratings

The NBA Finals will feature a team from the No. 1 TV market in the United States, New York City. What a bonanza in the first year of the NBA's new TV deal!

Losers

Kenny Atkinson, Cleveland Cavaliers

The 2025 Coach of the Year took the Cavs to their first Eastern Conference Finals of the post-LeBron James era this season. Still, the playoffs weren't great for the reputation of Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson. Not to take anything away from the efforts of the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons, but the Cavaliers had too much talent to go to seven games with those teams.

Those extra games left the Cavs looking fatigued against the Knicks, but the worst part is that they looked resigned to defeat. Cleveland seemed to give up in the final minutes of their Game 3 loss, then folded early in Game 4, allowing a 20-0 run by the Knicks. Atkinson was facing a very good Knicks team, but it's a very bad look for a coach when his players look like they're quitting.

Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland Cavaliers

There's no doubt that Donovan Mitchell can put up points in the playoffs. The problem is there's no evidence that he can still be a playmaker in the postseason.

Mitchell scored 31 points in the Game 4 loss but had just one assist. For the series, Mitchell had only nine dimes in four games and 14 turnovers. He has shown he can get to the basket and light it up, but Mitchell simply doesn't set up his teammates to succeed in the playoffs anymore. Compared to Brunson's 31 assists and 10 turnovers, Mitchell came up well short of his fellow All-Star guard.

TV ratings

Thanks to the Knicks marching through the Eastern Conference playoffs like General Sherman marching to the sea, the NBA's new broadcasters got only 14 playoff games with the NBA's biggest TV market through three rounds.

Given how well Knicks fans have filled visiting arenas, they may be the biggest in-person market as well as the top TV market now. Start preparing for the Orange and Blue invasion now, Oklahoma City and San Antonio!