2025-26 New York Knicks Season Preview – The Most Anticipated Season in 30 Years
Here. We. Go.
Welcome to the most anticipated New York Knicks season in nearly three decades. The Knicks are widely regarded as the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference, and with their new head coach, Mike Brown, at the helm, they’re preparing to forget about the past, shut out the noise, and deliver a championship to New York City.
Wait, wait, wait. Slow down. A championship? The Knicks? It’s been 53 years. How could this team be in championship conversations when Cleveland stands in the way? When Oklahoma City, Houston, Los Angeles, and Golden State are waiting on the other side. Brown is an unproven head coach. The Knicks don’t have a defensive identity right now. Their bench is shallow. Their health is questionable.
Just because the Celtics don’t have Jayson Tatum, the Bucks don’t have Damian Lillard, and the Pacers don’t have Tyrese Haliburton doesn’t take them out of contention for a title either.
This might be the best Knicks team since 1973. It also might not be. What if the Eastern Conference Finals are this team’s ceiling? What if the Knicks were too quick to fire Tom Thibodeau? What if Thibodeau just revealed the Knicks’ secrets to half the NBA? What if the Knicks’ roster isn’t deep enough? What if the Knicks take a downward turn?
All these factors are true, and they become even more important when the Knicks have set the bar so high. Expectations are through the roof for this team. They will be critiqued at the highest possible level all season because they’ve shown fans what they’re capable of.
So, as fans, let us take a moment to silence the noise. Let’s take a moment to be excited. It is incumbent upon us, as a Knicks fanbase that has gone over five decades without a title, to celebrate anything we can. We’re lucky to be able to provide unreasonable criticism because we believe a championship is within reach in 2026.
Knicks fans have every right to set unreasonably high expectations for this team. That’s the Knicks’ beautiful consequence of being the favorites to win the East.
Here we go!
The captain, Jalen Brunson, is the central star of the Knicks. The reigning NBA Clutch Player of the Year has already had plenty of playoff moments, and he’s one of the franchise’s most reliable superstars ever. Brunson averaged 26 points per game last season, and he excelled at drawing fouls. But he can’t lead the Knicks alone.
“A lot of things are the same [this season], but some things are different,” Brunson said. “Yes, we have the same core, but we have some different pieces. The voice is different, and everything is different from the coaching aspect of it, but the mentality and approach have to stay the same.”
Next, OG Anunoby is one of the NBA’s best defensive players, and he helped set the tone during last year’s playoffs of how well this team can defend. Spoiler alert: They are very talented defensively. Anunoby needs to prioritize defense over offense this season, but don’t be surprised if he saves some of his explosive defense for the playoffs.
The Knicks traded for Karl-Anthony Towns last year, and he’s an incredible three-point shooter, despite being seven feet tall. Towns was terrific offensively last year, but one of the reasons the Knicks fired Thibodeau was that he couldn’t fix his foul trouble, particularly on defense. Therefore, Kitten Towns has taken a softer approach on the court, but that cannot continue this season. Towns must improve defensively.
Mitchell Robinson is a great offensive rebounder and defender, but health has been his biggest obstacle. He didn’t join the Knicks until the final third of last season, and he’s already being listed as out for tonight’s game due to “load management.” Robinson’s lengthy injury history could be a significant factor this year, but hopefully, the Knicks have enough depth to afford a workload limit, like how the Yankees handled Giancarlo Stanton last season. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with load management, as long as it keeps the player healthy without sacrificing his on-court productivity.
Next, Mikal Bridges. A top defender on this team. The league’s Iron Man hasn’t missed a game in seven seasons, and he has great potential offensively. However, he didn’t reach it last year, and he needs to provide a much better offensive performance this season.
Miles McBride was great off the bench in 2024, but he left a lot of offense to be desired last season. He’s a top target on this team to be traded, whatever that ends up looking like. He’s a great bench piece and a strong backup point guard.
Josh Hart is quite literally the heart of this Knicks team because he always leaves everything on the court. So much so that he suffered a finger and a back injury in the preseason that have left him out for tonight’s game. Hart is a terrific rebounder, but he struggles to shoot the ball, especially when contested. While he is not much of a shooter, he is a very important part of this Knicks team. Last year, he set the franchise record for the most triple-doubles in a single season.
Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele are new members of the Knicks’ bench. Clarkson, the 2020-21 Sixth Man of the Year, is speedy, and he will shoot the ball as soon as he receives it. Yabusele is six-foot-eight, and his best attribute is his defense. He can guard some of the NBA’s best power forwards. He also has a three-point shot, which makes him versatile.
The biggest difference between Mike Brown and Tom Thibodeau is that Brown preaches pace. This Knicks team is not the most athletic in the NBA, but if they can find a consistent rhythm on the court, it will help all aspects of their game flow better.
“We’d like to establish or have an identity,” Brown said. “You can’t just be a good defensive team because if you look at the NBA champions of the past, everybody who has won a championship wasn’t just a top-three defensive team.”
One of the most gratifying aspects of a basketball team is when they connect offensively, because it means everyone knows their role and exactly where to position themselves on the court. This Knicks team is expected to flow from tonight’s tipoff to the final buzzer of the NBA Finals.
Predicted Team Stats:
In addition to the health concerns surrounding Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns is reportedly dealing with a quad strain that initially left him questionable to play tonight. However, he is now being ruled a game-time decision.
In addition to the health concerns surrounding Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns is reportedly dealing with a quad strain that initially left him questionable to play tonight. However, he is now being ruled a game-time decision.
Catch tonight’s game at 7 PM (6 PM CDT) on ESPN and MSG.
Schedule
7:00 PM (6:00 PM CDT): NBA Opening Night – NYK vs. CLE; ESPN, MSG
