Jalen Brunson

Knicks Notes: Kidd, Coaching Search, Offseason, Thibodeau

June 13th, 2025 at 7:02pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Knicks‘ interest in reuniting with Jason Kidd, who played one season for them, this time as a head coach, has been well documented. But with Kidd under contract with the Mavericks, the likeliest pathway for New York to do so would be via trade, writes Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus.

How exactly would such a trade work? Pincus suggests a deal that would see the Knicks sending out the 2026 Wizards’ protected first-round pick as well as top-four protected swap rights to their own 2026 first-rounder. Pincus compares the proposal to the Clippers trading a 2015 first-round pick to the Celtics in order to bring Doc Rivers into the fold, as well as the Bucks trading two second-round picks to the Nets to bring Kidd to Milwaukee.

The question for New York would ultimately be, with so few tradable assets available to them, would it make sense to use two valuable resources on a coach already under contract? Of course, if Dallas stands firm on its stance that Kidd isn’t available, the discussion may be moot.

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While the Knicks’ 2025 offseason revolved around reshaping and finalizing their core moving forward, the 2026 offseason will see them focused on adding crucial bench depth once they address the coaching vacancy, Yossi Gozlan writes for Third Apron (Substack link). In his offseason preview, Gozlan predicts the Knicks will operate above the first tax apron but below the second in order to maximize their limited flexibility. Given their limited ability to add a higher-salary player if they don’t move a key rotation piece, Gozlan suggests targeting young wings who might face roster crunches, such as the Rockets’ Cam Whitmore or Magic’s Jett Howard.
The Knicks will have formal interviews next week with Taylor Jenkins and Mike Brown, two of their top head coaching candidates, reports James L. Edwards III for The Athletic. Edwards also writes that the Knicks may circle back on Kidd and Bulls’ head coach Billy Donovan, despite having their interview requests denied, confirming an ESPN report. The Knicks will also begin checking in on assistant coaches as they cast as wide a net as possible.
Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart reiterated their appreciation for Tom Thibodeau on the latest episode of The Roommates Show podcast, Jared Schwartz writes for The New York Post. This was the first time Brunson, who has known Thibodeau his whole life, has experienced his NBA coach being fired. “To have Thibs to do what he did for my career, I’m just so grateful and thankful for. Not enough things can be said about what he’s meant to myself, my career,” Brunson said. Hart, who has experienced six coaches in eight seasons, also expressed gratitude: “He helped make me into the player that I am. I had a lot of instability in the early part of my career, and he kind of gave me that stability and that opportunity to flourish as a player in the league, as a starter in the league. I’m always gonna be forever grateful for him.” The two teammates and friends added that Thibodeau deserves a lot of credit for the strong Knicks foundation that has been built over the last few years.
Former Knick Austin Rivers was less positive about his time under Thibodeau. “I’m not really a Thibs guy. I played for him, it wasn’t the best experience personally, didn’t treat me well at all,” Rivers said on a recent episode of his podcast Off Guard With Austin Rivers, via Alex Kirschenbaum of Athlon Sports. Rivers describes his first interaction with Thibodeau upon joining the team, saying, “Thibodeau comes up to me and says, ‘Hey man, excited for you to be here. I wanted Derrick [Rose], but you’ll do great…’ And he walked away.” Rivers’ grievances don’t end with the coach, though. He expressed frustration with how his trade was handled, saying, “They don’t do business the right way sometimes.”

Latest On Jason Kidd, Knicks’ Coaching Search

June 10th, 2025 at 7:49am CST by Luke Adams

There’s “mutual intrigue” between Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd and the Knicks, who reportedly have interest in hiring him away from Dallas, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Monday during a SportsCenter appearance (Twitter video link).

Peter Botte of The New York Post confirms that the interest between Kidd and the Knicks is mutual, while Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) provides more details on why the former NBA star appeals to New York. As Stein explains, Kidd has existing relationships with Knicks owner James Dolan and star point guard Jalen Brunson, who is thought to be a “strong Kidd advocate.”

Kidd also has experience handling the New York City spotlight as both a player and a coach, which is considered an important part of the job, given how often the Knicks’ head coach is expected to speak on behalf of the franchise, Stein notes. Members of the front office, including president of basketball operations Leon Rose, essentially never talk to the media.

Whether that mutual interest between Kidd and New York leads anywhere remains to be seen, however. The Knicks haven’t yet asked the Mavericks for permission to speak to their head coach and likely won’t do so unless they’re confident they have a real chance to hire him, as Windhorst observes. Stein, who stated over the weekend that Dallas may simply turn down New York’s request for permission if it comes, agrees that the Knicks ultimately may not even submit that request, if that’s the outcome they’re expecting.

Still, until the Mavericks make it clear on or off the record – like the Rockets did with Ime Udoka – that they’re not entertaining the idea of letting their head coach go, or until the Knicks begin focusing on a new target, the chatter surrounding Kidd will likely continue, Stein writes.

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Kidd wasn’t a big fan of having to act as the Mavericks’ de facto spokesman in the wake of the team’s Luka Doncic trade in February, writes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Still, Stein doesn’t believe Kidd is unhappy in Dallas or angling for the Knicks’ job, noting that the veteran head coach is close with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving. Kidd and his family are also settled in Dallas, and he has also spoken enthusiastically in multiple media appearances in recent weeks about the prospect of adding Cooper Flagg.
Speaking of Flagg, the projected No. 1 overall pick is scheduled to visit Dallas next Tuesday. Stein suggests that the Mavericks likely won’t want Kidd’s future with the Mavs to still be an open question at that point, so resolution one way or the other should come within the next week.
Although it seems as if Kidd is the Knicks’ Plan A, the organization is expected to conduct an “exhaustive search that includes coaches at every level,” league sources tell Edwards.
While Tom Thibodeau had a reputation for being reluctant to play his youngsters, Jared Schwartz of The New York Post notes that second-round picks like Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride blossomed under the Knicks’ former head coach. Player development could be an important consideration in this coaching search, Schwartz adds, since the team will want to get the most out of 2024 draftees Pacome Dadiet, Tyler Kolek, and Ariel Hukporti.

Knicks Notes: Culture, Malone, Brunson, Towns

June 8th, 2025 at 8:00pm CST by Eli Cohen

There’s a lot that can be learned about Knicks‘ relationship with former head coach Tom Thibodeau and his recent firing, through the lens of what makes certain business cultures particularly effective, organizational behavior professor Spencer Harrison writes for The Athletic.

Harrison points to a specific moment in the Knicks’ season as indicative of the larger institutional issues at play: a March statement from Mikal Bridges in which Bridges referenced having had discussions with Thibodeau about the starters’ minutes load, and Thibodeau’s subsequent denial of such a conversation taking place.

“As someone who studies the cultures of businesses and organizations, I found Thibodeau’s response telling. To me, it suggested a stubbornness and unwillingness to consider other options, as if the conversation wasn’t even worth having,” Spencer writes.

Spencer also refers to a study of creative teams employing generalists versus specialists and which tends to yield the maximum creative output. The conclusion of the study, according to Spencer, was that people who had been introduced to a variety of approaches tended to be more adaptable and creative in their problem-solving. That stands in stark contrast to the notoriously stubborn Thibodeau, whose methods have yielded a great deal of success, but have at times caused his teams to struggle to adapt on the fly.

However, Spencer warns that simply firing Thibodeau does not guarantee positive results for the Knicks. As he notes, there are plenty of examples in the business world of leadership changes not working because a newcomer wants to implement an entirely new philosophy and culture, rather than building on what the previous regime did right.

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The Knicks should hire former Nuggets coach Michael Malone, opines Troy Renck of the Denver Post. While Malone’s tenure in Denver came to an abrupt end, Renck believes that his competitiveness, willingness to challenge his players, and media savvy would make him a great fit for the Knicks, who generally require their coach to serve as the main point of contact for the media. However, Renck does note that many of the frustrations with Thibodeau, including his over-reliance on starters and lack of trust in non-established bench players, are present with Malone as well, which could make for a complicated dynamic for a team looking to adjust its approach.
Jalen Brunson offered his first take on the Thibodeau firing, albeit in a “pictures are worth a thousand words” manner, writes the New York Post’s Bryan Fonseca. The star point guard posted a photo of himself and the recently fired coach on Instagram with two emojis: a white heart and a hand with its fingers crossed. It was a characteristically understated response from Brunson, who had previously gone to bat for Thibodeau. Following the end of the team’s playoff run, Brunson was quoted as saying, “Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe he’s the right guy. Yes. Come on,” when asked if Thibodeau was the right coach for the job. This was his first public comment following the firing.
Last summer’s trade between the Knicks and Timberwolves represented one of the rarest things in the NBA: a true win-win deal, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski and James Edwards III. The Knicks needed a center after free agent Isaiah Hartenstein left for Oklahoma City and Mitchell Robinson‘s injury rehabilitation took longer than expected. Meanwhile, the Wolves were dealing with a complicated salary cap situation for a roster they weren’t sure could sustain itself as a title contender. While the two stars headlining the deal, Karl-Anthony Towns for the Wolves and Julius Randle for the Knicks, were both shocked by the news, especially so close to training camp, both players ended up adjusting to their new surroundings — and both ended up in their respective Conference Finals. “I think if you had asked either front office last year, ‘Hey, worst-case scenario, you’ll lose in the conference finals?’ I think we’d have probably taken it even though we both have higher aspirations,” Wolves president Tim Connelly said.

Knicks Notes: Brunson, Towns, Thibodeau, Hart

June 7th, 2025 at 9:57pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns are the most valuable trade assets the Knicks possess as they try to finish the job of building a championship roster, according to Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News. Winfield ranks the potential value of everything New York has to work with this summer, starting with Brunson and going down to Boston’s top-45 protected second-round pick in 2028. Team president Leon Rose has limited draft capital remaining after last year’s trades for Towns and Mikal Bridges, so most of the coveted assets would be players.

It seems unthinkable that the Knicks would part with Brunson, their captain, especially after he accepted a team-friendly extension that could keep him under contract through the 2028/29 season. They may be more willing to move on from Towns, whose contract becomes more burdensome until he reaches a $61MM player option in 2027/28. Towns’ defensive shortcomings can make it challenging to have him and Brunson on the floor together, which Indiana exploited in the conference finals.

Bridges, New York’s 2032 first-round pick and OG Anunoby round out Winfield’s top five. The Knicks face a looming decision on Bridges, who is entering the final year of his contract and will be eligible for an offseason extension potentially worth $156MM over four years. Anunoby, the second-highest-paid player on the team, is signed for three more seasons and holds a $48.4MM player option for 2028/29.

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The team’s next head coach will be walking into an extremely high-pressure situation, as reaching the conference finals wasn’t enough to save Tom Thibodeau‘s job, notes Steve Popper of Newsday. He points out that the Knicks have been mentioned as serious suitors for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant, so the new coach will have to adjust his preferred style if one of those stars is in New York. Popper cautions that the team may have to aim smaller and states that avoiding the second apron figures to be an offseason priority. The Knicks are currently $8MM under that threshold, but can expand that by $3.5MM by declining their team option on P.J. Tucker. They could save another $2MM by also declining their option on Ariel Hukporti, but he may be too valuable at that price to let go.
Thibodeau deserved another season as head coach to hone the Brunson-Towns combination and figure out ways to improve the defense, contends Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Washburn argues that Thibodeau took the fall for management’s mistakes, including giving up five first-round picks for Bridges and parting with two valuable pieces from last year’s team to bring in Towns.
Josh Hart, who played for Jay Wright at Villanova, fully supports Wright’s decision to not pursue the Knicks’ coaching vacancy. “Man Thank You. Stay retired!” Hart tweeted.

Knicks Notes: Kidd, Finch, Thibodeau, Brunson

June 6th, 2025 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

After Marc Stein reported earlier today that the Knicks are expected to seek the Mavericks‘ permission to talk to head coach Jason Kidd about their head coaching job, Ian Begley of SNY.tv and ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon have confirmed as much. New York is “conducting active due diligence” on Kidd, according to Charania and MacMahon.

The question remains whether or not the Mavericks will grant that permission. Sources tell ESPN’s duo that Mavs general manager Nico Harrison and team owner Patrick Dumont haven’t yet discussed whether to allow Kidd and the Knicks to speak to one another. It’s also unclear whether Kidd would have interest in leaving Dallas for New York — he did interview for the Knicks’ job in 2020 before Tom Thibodeau was hired, as Charania and MacMahon note.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch is also part of a small group of head coaches already under contract whom the Knicks have interest in, according to Begley. It’s unclear if the Knicks plan to ask the Wolves about talking to Finch, but I can’t imagine Minnesota being very enthusiastic about the possibility.

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Following up on ESPN’s reporting about the Knicks dismissing Thibodeau after getting input from players, Begley notes that while that player input was a factor in the team’s decision, Knicks players were respectful of Thibodeau during their end-of-season exit meetings and have a “great deal of admiration” for him. They did point out during those meetings, however, that there were things Thibodeau did during his tenure that could be improved, Begley adds.
There will be plenty of Jalen Brunson-related subplots to monitor during the Knicks’ head coaching search, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post (subscription required). As Braziller observes, Brunson has blossomed into a star under Thibodeau and spoke highly of the veteran coach. It remains to be seen how much input the point guard might have in the team’s hiring decision and what the coaching change will mean for his father, assistant coach Rick Brunson.
The Knicks aren’t expected to make an immediate head coaching hire, a league source tells Steve Popper of Newsday, who details the pressure and expectations that Thibodeau’s replacement will face.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle, who is the president of the National Basketball Coaches Association, admitted this week that he was shocked by the Knicks’ decision to fire Thibodeau. “Thibs went in there and changed so much,” Carlisle said (Twitter link via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star). “You look at all that and what happened yesterday. When I first saw it I thought it was one of those fake AI things, like, no way. No way possible.”

Latest On Thibodeau’s Firing, Knicks’ Coaching Search

June 5th, 2025 at 5:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

Knicks president Leon Rose and owner James Dolan met with several players and members of the coaching staff before making the decision to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau, sources tell Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. They were asked to provide input on the current state of the franchise following the loss to Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals and offer advice on what moves should be made next.

Shelburne hears that Thibodeau’s dismissal had been brewing for several months, sparked by a feeling that the team wasn’t reaching its full potential despite having Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns as All-NBA players. Shelburne’s sources said Rose became convinced that a new leader was needed after talking to the players and coaches, as he no longer had confidence that Thibodeau could guide the team to the NBA Finals.

“He got outcoached,” one league source told Shelburne. “The Game 1 collapse (in the Eastern Conference Finals) was insane. If they don’t have that collapse, who knows what happens.”

The Knicks led most of the way in the series opener and held a 14-point advantage with 2:50 remaining before Indiana staged a dramatic comeback behind a barrage of three-pointers. The Pacers also won Game 2 in New York, and the Knicks were never able to gain control of the series.

Shelburne points out that Thibodeau was second-guessed on several decisions he made against Indiana. Towns remained on the sidelines late in Game 2 as the team’s offense bogged down, and the decision to insert Mitchell Robinson into the starting lineup didn’t come until Game 3 when the Knicks were already in a desperate situation.

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Thibodeau’s insistence on giving a heavy workload to his starters was another factor in Rose’s decision, Shelburne adds. She notes that Brunson posted the highest usage rate of his career, with one source pointing out that he missed games this season due to ankle and calf injuries and raising concerns that he might eventually break down like Derrick Rose did while playing for Thibodeau in Chicago.
The Knicks will prioritize experience in hiring their next coach and won’t panic if a replacement isn’t found by the start of Summer League on July 10, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. Bondy examines the credentials of several candidates, stating that recently fired Kings coach Mike Brown and former Lakers and Kings coach Luke Walton were among the names he has heard recently. Bondy also mentions current Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who has been cited before as a potential target, but cautions that it’s not clear if Dallas would consider letting him go.
Kidd shouldn’t be dismissed as a candidate just because he’s under contract, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said on the latest Hoop Collective podcast (hat tip to Jared Schwartz of The New York Post). Kidd, who signed an extension with the Mavs last year, played for the Knicks during his final NBA season and has experience coaching Brunson. “I think it would be way too far to hint, suggest or any of that that J-Kidd is looking to get out of Dallas,” MacMahon said. “I think that would be not an accurate or fair thing to say. But if this opportunity were to present itself, I bet you his ears would perk up.”

Knicks Coaching Notes: Thibodeau, R. Brunson, Udoka, Hurley

June 4th, 2025 at 7:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Despite enjoying the most successful tenure of any Knicks head coach this century by a mile, Tom Thibodeau was relieved of his duties following a six-game Eastern Conference Finals defeat by Indiana.

According to Ian Begley and Alex Smith of SNY.tv, Thibodeau will not be given a role in president Leon Rose‘s front office going forward. The three-year, $30MM contract extension he inked with the team last summer has yet to kick in, but the team will simply eat that money.

Thibodeau brought the Knicks to four playoff appearances during his five seasons in charge, posting a 226-174 regular season record and a 24-23 playoff record.

There’s more out of New York:

In another SNY.tv story, Begley says he doesn’t believe the Knicks’ next head coach will be made to hold onto assistant Rick Brunson. However, Begley wonders if firing Brunson – the father of Jalen Brunson – might get the new coach’s relationship with the team’s All-NBA point guard on the wrong foot. The elder Brunson worked under Thibodeau throughout Thibs’ stint with the team.
Although Rockets head coach Ime Udoka has been floated as a possible next Knicks coach, a team source confirms to The Athletic’s Kelly Iko (via Twitter) that Houston does not intend to make him available. That’s also what Marc Stein reported when he first identified Udoka as someone who would be of interest to the Knicks.
Two-time champion UConn coach Dan Hurley has indicated he has no interest in taking the Knicks gig, per Dom Amore of The Hartford Courant. “Not another summer of that,” Hurley said, alluding to the Lakers’ 2024 pursuit of his services. Sources tell Dan Burges of The New Haven Register that the Huskies aren’t seriously worried about the possibility that Hurley would leave.

Knicks Notes: Offseason, Horford, Brunson, Bridges

June 3rd, 2025 at 7:43am CST by Luke Adams

There’s a good argument to be made that the Knicks should run it back with their current core in 2025/26 while just making some tweaks around the edges of their roster, Chris Mannix writes in a column for SI.com. Mannix notes that continuity is “a key to success in today’s NBA” and suggests the Knicks could benefit from the current group getting a second year under its belts after undergoing some major changes ahead of the 2024/25 season.

Still, the Knicks’ front office is expected to consider all its options and explore the possibility of taking a bigger swing if the right opportunity arises, ESPN’s Shams Charania said during a Monday appearance on SportsCenter (YouTube link; hat tip to RealGM).

“I’m told the Knicks have internal meetings (scheduled) this week to evaluate everything from the roster (to) different changes they could make around everything, but especially the roster,” Charania said. “… Knicks president Leon Rose has gone out and gotten OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns. I expect him to be just as aggressive this offseason, whether it’s a landmark player that you could bring in there or definitely depth on that bench.

“(Head coach) Tom Thibodeau called it a very important offseason coming up, and this is a team that has won 50-plus games in consecutive seasons for the first time since the early ’90s. Four of his five seasons as head coach, they’ve made it to the playoffs, so it’s been a successful run. Jalen Brunson (is) fully supportive. That front office is fully supportive of Tom Thibodeau as well. But I do expect them to be very active and aggressive on the roster.”

After acquiring Bridges and Towns last offseason, the Knicks no longer have many draft assets to offer up in trades, so if the club makes another major deal this summer, the outgoing package would likely have to be heavy on player value.

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Discussing New York’s potential offseason options during the Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), ESPN’s Tim Bontemps pointed to Al Horford as an example of the kind of free agent who might be attainable and would improve the club’s depth. “I don’t think at this point it makes a lot of sense for Al Horford to be back in Boston,” Bontemps said (hat tip to MassLive.com). “Maybe he will be, but given where things are with the Celtics, I think he’s now much more in play than he might have been a month ago. Al Horford is a longtime friend of Karl-Anthony Towns and has played with him with the Dominican national team for a long time. If they go get Al Horford this summer – who I think would be an unbelievable fit on this Knicks roster – and they go get another perimeter player to deepen their rotation…that’s a much better team. That’s a team that could beat the Pacers next year. That’s a team that’ll be in the mix in the East.”
Brunson’s decision to accept a more team-friendly extension last summer instead of waiting until this offseason to sign a new, more lucrative free agent contract should begin to pay dividends for the Knicks in July, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post, who observes that the team can operate under the second tax apron due to Brunson’s lower 2025/26 salary. That means New York will be able to aggregate salaries in trades and should have the taxpayer mid-level exception available to work with in free agency.
After an up-and-down first season in New York, Bridges will be extension-eligible this offseason, which raises a couple of key questions, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. First, is Bridges still enthusiastic about a long-term future with the Knicks after facing so much criticism and scrutiny in year one? And if so, are the Knicks comfortable with the idea of offering him an extension that could be worth up to $156MM over four years?

Knicks Notes: Brunson, Adjustments, Bridges, Offseason Priorities, Contracts

June 2nd, 2025 at 7:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Knicks fell two wins shy of the Finals. Their top player has no doubts they can make up that deficit next season. Jalen Brunson believes the core group will do whatever it takes to get over the hump, Zach Braziller of the New York Post writes.

“The most confident. Overconfident. Seriously,” Brunson said of the team’s future. “There’s not an ounce of any type of doubt that I’m not confident with this group. We have a lot of guys who are on this team, and I feel like you guys always ask, ‘what do you work on whenever you come back?’ and stuff like that,. And from what I’ve seen, no one’s really out there posting themselves about the things that they do. We have a lot of guys that just genuinely want to work hard to be better, and I like that, and I appreciate my teammates and everything they do and everything they believe in.”

Brunson was appreciative of the character his teammates showed.

“I think the way this team progressed this year, for me it was fun,” he said. “There were a lot of people saying we couldn’t do a lot of things. A lot of negativity around what we were trying to accomplish and the way we put blinders on and went to work, that’s something I was proud of with this team. I’m proud of how we stayed the course.”

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What steps should they take to achieve that Finals goal? Chris Herring of ESPN makes three suggestions — going with Mitchell Robinson as a starter on a regular basis with Josh Hart coming off the bench; improving the second unit and going with a deeper bench rotation; and finding ways to better utilize the partnership between Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Given the draft pick haul they received, the Nets are thus far the clear winners in last summer’s Mikal Bridges blockbuster trade, Brian Lewis of the New York Post opines. The early payoff will begin this month when the Nets utilize some of those draft picks but there’s plenty more to come. Meanwhile, Bridges flopped in the Eastern Conference Finals trying to guard Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton, according to Lewis, who says the Knicks could still make the deal a win-win if they reach the Finals next year with Bridges — or in the future, if he signs an extension.
Speaking of Bridges, potential extension talks between the two parties this summer are at or near the top of the team’s priority list, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. Bridges could get more money if he waits until free agency next summer but he also looms as a tradable asset if he has an expiring contract. Extending Tom Thibodeau and deciding whether to sign any of their four unrestricted free agents are also on the offseason agenda, Bondy writes.
In a related story, Braziller breaks down the contract status of each player heading into the offseason. New York’s top seven rotation players are under contract through at least next season.

Knicks Notes: Hart, Tucker, Towns, Bridges, Thibodeau

June 1st, 2025 at 9:00am CST by Arthur Hill

The Knicks just completed their most successful season in over two decades, but that doesn’t guarantee the core of the team will stay together, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post. After winning 51 games and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 25 years, the season ended in disappointment Saturday night with a 17-point loss at Indiana in Game 6.

New York was favored heading into the series and appeared to be good position to reach its first NBA Finals since 1999 after dispatching the Celtics in the second round and seeing the top-seeded Cavaliers lose to Indiana. However, the Knicks let a big lead slip away in the opener against the Pacers and weren’t able to recover from a 2-0 series deficit.

Reflecting on the season, Josh Hart told reporters that changes often follow when teams fall short of their goals.

“You’re always going to hear me say, ‘Run it back,’” Hart said. “I think you heard me say the same thing last year with the guys we had. I’d like to do it. I feel like this team is good enough to make the next step. But it’s a business. And when you don’t get to where you feel like you could’ve or should’ve, changes are made.”

With Hart, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson and Miles McBride all under contract for next season, the Knicks have the option to attempt another run at the Finals with the same group intact. But they were in a similar position a year ago and opted for two major offseason trades that brought in Bridges and Towns.

“This is my eighth year. This is my fourth organization. I’ve had six or seven coaches,” Hart said. “It’s tough, we’re going to have to see. Don’t think you can ever be too comfortable. I’ll open [the X app] one day and I’m somewhere else. That’s what’s disappointing the most, knowing there’s a good chance this team might not be back in totality.”

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The path to the conference finals wasn’t smooth, as players held several team meetings to help them refocus after losses, league sources tell James L. Edwards and Fred Katz of The Athletic. They note that the team had to deal with disputes on the bench, criticism that coach Tom Thibodeau was leaning too heavily on his starters, and player comments regarding “sacrifice,” “egos” and “agendas.” A players-only meeting following the Game 5 loss at Boston was called by P.J. Tucker, whom the authors say was signed as a free agent to help bring order to the team. The front office believed there was a need for better locker room leadership, so the 40-year-old Tucker, who only appeared in three regular season games, was added in April instead of someone who could provide more help on the court.
Teammates and coaches were frustrated throughout the season by Towns’ poor defensive habits, Edwards and Katz add. Sources tell them that Towns would often fail to execute the correct coverage without explaining why, leading some players to believe he “didn’t grasp the importance of the matter.”
Bridges will become eligible for a four-year, $156MM extension this summer, which will be the next step in seeing if management plans a long-term commitment to the current roster. Edwards and Katz report that Bridges’ fit wasn’t as smooth as expected, as he “shied away from physicality,” missed too many jump shots and didn’t provide the consistent defensive presence that he displayed earlier in his career. He also talked to the press in March about the starters playing too many minutes, which the authors state is a taboo subject to discuss publicly on Thibodeau teams.
Thibodeau’s job appears to be safe, as he has strong support from team president Leon Rose and Brunson, according to Edwards and Katz, although they point out that owner James Dolan has the final decision. Brunson bristled at speculation about his coach’s future after Saturday’s game, relays Jared Schwartz of The New York Post, responding, “Is that a real question right now? You just asked me if I believe he’s the right guy. Yes. Come on.”

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