Knicks Notes: Second Apron, Dadiet, Kayil, Rose
The Knicks‘ front office would prefer to operate above the second tax apron in 2026/27 if it allows the team to avoid losing key role players, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. However, team owner James Dolan doesn’t share that view, having made it clear that he adamantly opposes being a second-apron team — and so far he hasn’t changed his mind, according to Katz.
Due to their existing salary commitments and the additional salaries they’ll need to take on to fill out the rest of their roster, the Knicks will almost certainly be a first-apron team going forward, which carries its own set of roster-building restrictions, including not being able to acquire a player via sign-and-trade, not having access to the bi-annual exception, only being able to use the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception (approximately $6MM next season), not being able to take back more than 100% of outgoing players’ salaries in a trade, and not being able to use trade exceptions generated during the previous season.
A team operating above the second apron faces most of those same restrictions in addition to not being able to use any portion of the mid-level exception, not being able to aggregate player salaries in a trade, not being able to send out cash in a trade, and not being able to take back salary using a signed-and-traded player for matching purposes.
However, there’s nothing stopping second-apron teams from re-signing their own free agents using various forms of Bird rights. As Katz outlines, if they insist on staying below the second apron, the Knicks will almost certainly lose reserve center Mitchell Robinson, assuming he’s not willing to accept a very team-friendly deal to return. It would also likely be tricky for the club to bring back more than one of Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado.
While it makes sense for certain teams to want to avoid the second apron, the Knicks are coming off a title and losing some of the players who played important roles in the NBA Finals run would arguably hurt their chances of repeating as champions more than the second-apron restrictions would. According to Katz, it’s unclear if Dolan is using a “one-size-fits-all logic” in his approach to the second apron or if he’s reluctant to pay a far more significant tax bill to keep the roster intact.
For what it’s worth, during the radio appearance in which Dolan laid out his approach to the aprons, he stated, “I’ll write as big of a check as possible, but I can’t write a check that goes into the second apron.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- Within a story about the Knicks’ apron situation, Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required) cites sources who say the Knicks are still optimistic about Pacome Dadiet‘s potential even though he has barely played during his first two seasons. The 2024 first-round pick has logged 247 total minutes across 47 regular season outings since joining the team.
- German guard Jack Kayil indicated after being selected by the Knicks on Wednesday that he’s not interested in spending the 2026/27 season as a draft-and-stash prospect, according to Michael Blinn of The New York Post. “My plans are to stay here and get into the organization and keep going with them,” Kayil told reporters. Signing Kayil to a contract that starts at the rookie minimum could be a step toward helping New York manage its cap situation.
- Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose hardly ever speaks publicly, but he made an exception this week to appear on the Roommates Show podcast (YouTube link) with Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart. Jared Schwartz of The New York Post shares some of the highlights from that podcast appearance, including Rose’s thoughts on last year’s coaching change, the importance of the mid-season Alvarado addition, and why it bothered him that so much criticism was aimed at Mikal Bridges.
Knicks Notes: Brown, Brunson, Jent, Robinson
It was less than two years ago that Mike Brown was fired by the Kings after Sacramento got off to a poor start in 2024/25. Now he is the coach who brought the Larry O’Brien trophy back to New York.
“He understands what it is to be a champion,” Knicks star and Finals MVP Jalen Brunson said of his head coach, per Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee. “He understands how to build a team, how to build habits that will put you in this position. And we’re so grateful, so thankful to have him at the top. He kept us even so many times. He’s brought the best out of us as people first, and, man, I’m so happy for him. He’s the reason why we’re (champions).”
In addition to being a two-time Coach of the Year, Brown can now boast five championship rings, four of which came as an assistant. He made the right decisions and pressed the right buttons throughout the Knicks’ miraculous 16-3 playoff run.
“He’s done a great job of adjusting our team to give us the best chance to win,” said Karl-Anthony Towns after Game 4. “The spot we’re in now is because of his courage and trust to change what we were doing and put us in a better position.”
Brown’s performance as the Knicks’ coach is particularly noteworthy, given that he didn’t appear to be the team’s first choice after firing Tom Thibodeau last summer, Tim Reynolds writes for The Associated Press. Whether or not he was the preferred candidate, he showed that he was the best option with his poise, personality, and commitment to excellence.
One of Brown’s notable decisions was to meet with his five starters before the playoffs began, both individually and then as a group, and let them air any grievances they might have with how the season had gone, Justin Tasch writes for the New York Post. Brunson’s father, Rick Brunson, said that the meetings “were pivotal to New York’s playoff success.”
We have more Knicks news and notes:
- Brunson is shorter than 95% of the NBA, Stefan Bondy writes for the New York Post, but his heart and his fight ensured he’ll go down as a Knicks legend. His Game 5 performance, in which he scored 45 of the team’s 94 points, was a masterpiece in which every point was crucial to closing out the series without any possibility of a Spurs comeback. “It’s everything I dreamed of,” Brunson said after the game. “It’s why I came to New York.” Brunson bet on himself when he left the Mavericks and Luka Doncic to run his own team, but he also bet on the Knicks when he took a substantial pay cut to give president Leon Rose the necessary flexibility to fill out the roster as Rose saw fit, Reynolds writes. Rose rewarded that faith by bringing in players Brunson trusted and who could complement his skill set in the right ways.
- Brown made sure his coaching staff earned its share of credit for the championship run, shouting out one specific assistant as being an indispensable part of his team. “There are a lot of jobs open out there. Chris Jent, my associate head coach, I’m surprised has not gotten an interview,” Brown said after Game 5, per Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter video link). “He won the Summer League championship this past summer, he’s our offensive coordinator, associate head coach. He’s been around for a long time. Someone needs to give him an interview because he will help your team win at the highest level.”
- The longest-tenured Knick made perhaps the biggest play of his career in fitting fashion at the end of Game 5, Zach Braziller writes for the Post. Mitchell Robinson, playing 20 minutes while Towns dealt with foul trouble, grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed free throw with 22 seconds to go and kicked it out to OG Anunoby, who hit one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game. It was the exact type of play that made him such a critical part of the Knicks’ identity throughout the season. Robinson grinded out extra possessions and found teammates on kick-outs, supercharging the team’s offense when it started to bog down. Robinson, the longest-tenured Knick, is the only player left from his 17-win rookie season, and despite playing with a broken hand, he came up clutch when it mattered the most, battling Victor Wembanyama for rebounds and hauling in the biggest one of the night. He responded to the accomplishment in his typical lighthearted fashion. “Yesterday, at the hotel, I caught a snake. Again,” he said. “You know I caught a snake in the beginning of the playoffs when we played Atlanta. We won, and I caught one last night and we won today. I think it’s something about snakes.”
Knicks Win First Championship Since 1973; Brunson Named MVP
For the first time in 53 years, New York has an NBA title to celebrate. The Knicks finished off a thrilling NBA Finals with a 94-90 win Saturday night in San Antonio.
Jalen Brunson was named Finals MVP, wrapping up the series with 45 points in Game 5. He was overwhelmed by the moment in a post-game interview on ABC (Twitter video link), taking a long time to compose himself before calling it “everything I ever dreamed of.”
With a huge contingent of Knicks fans cheering them on after making the trip to San Antonio, Brunson said the championship is “the reason I came to New York” as he accepted the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award.
Head coach Mike Brown thanked owner James Dolan and team president Leon Rose before giving a shout-out to New York fans for their support. Sources tell NBA insider Chris Haynes that the Knicks plan to fly back to New York City tonight to continue their celebration (Twitter link). Dolan implored New Yorkers to be safe and said the championship parade will be held on Thursday (Twitter link via Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints).
Saturday’s game followed a familiar pattern as San Antonio built a large early lead before the Knicks began to chip away. New York scored just 13 points in the first quarter as the Spurs flashed a dominant defense built around Victor Wembanyama patrolling the paint. San Antonio kept the lead for most of the game, but the Knicks put together another late rally led by Brunson, who finished 14-of-27 from the field and 4-of-7 from three-point range.
Mikal Bridges (14 points), Josh Hart (13) and OG Anunoby (11) were the only other Knicks players to hit double figures, but Brunson made plenty of big shots with the game in the balance. It was a difficult night for Karl-Anthony Towns, who was in foul trouble all game and finished with two points and 10 rebounds in less than 23 minutes.
Rookie guard Dylan Harper carried the offensive load for the Spurs, posting 25 points, five rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes off the bench. Wembanyama contributed 19 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks.
“We weren’t ready to win an NBA championship,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said after the loss, per Siegel (Twitter link). “The better team won. We did a lot of good things, and we didn’t finish the job. That’s what it is.”
Even though the series lasted just five games, it will go down as one of the most competitive in NBA Finals history, according to Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic (Twitter link). New York outscored San Antonio by just 12 total points, which is tied for the closest Finals ever that went five or fewer games.
The Knicks also set a record with the longest drought between championships, notes Law Murray of The Athletic (Twitter link), breaking the old mark of 50 years held by Milwaukee (1971-2021).
The long-awaited title is the result of several gutsy moves by Rose and the front office, states Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Rose made the decision a year ago to fire head coach Tom Thibodeau, who had just taken the team to the conference finals, and replace him with Brown, who was dismissed by Sacramento in the middle of last season.
Rose’s transformation of the Knicks from a perennial loser to a title contender began with the 2022 signing of Brunson in free agency, but it also included ambitious trades that brought in Anunoby, Hart, Towns and Bridges, as well as smaller moves to pick up Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado.
“I found a home in New York,” Hart said during the post-game celebration (Twitter link from James L. Edwards of The Athletic). “They embrace for who I am, and I’m not perfect.”
As always, the end of the NBA Finals marks the beginning of the league’s offseason. Starting Sunday, teams will be permitted to negotiate with their own free agents and extension-eligible players — contract agreements reached before the end of the month with those players can be officially finalized in July. Trade restrictions are also lifted, as all 30 teams are now able to make deals.
The major decision for New York in its quest to repeat will be how to handle Mitchell Robinson as he approaches unrestricted free agency. Robinson is the longest-tenured Knick and an indispensable part of the second unit, but the team already has a very expensive roster in place. Jordan Clarkson and Shamet will also be unrestricted free agents, while Alvarado holds a $4.5MM player option.
The Spurs’ roster is more stable as most of their rotation is on low-cost rookie deals. Wembanyama, Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson will all be extension-eligible this summer, as will Julian Champagnie, whose contract includes a $3MM team option for next season. It will be interesting to see whether San Antonio decides to explore trade opportunities involving De’Aaron Fox, who suffered through a difficult Finals and has a four-year, maximum-salary extension that’s about to kick in. That contract is worth a projected $221.76MM.
The Spurs and Thunder are listed as the early co-favorites for next year’s title by DraftKings, relays Bill Speros of The Boston Herald (Twitter link).
Knicks Notes: Towns, Brunson, Brown, Rose, Lin
Coach Mike Brown was upset with the free throw disparity in Monday’s Game 3 loss, but Knicks players don’t believe that’s what caused their 13-game playoff winning streak to end, Steve Popper of Newsday writes in a subscriber-only story. Karl-Anthony Towns blamed an uncharacteristic sloppiness with the ball as New York committed 13 turnovers, several as the result of unforced errors.
“That ain’t cost us the game,” Towns responded when asked about Brown’s comments on the officiating. “Turned the ball over. Didn’t execute. Didn’t do what got us 13 straight wins in a row. That’s how you lose a game. We didn’t do what we’ve been doing for 13. We decided to do something different, and it ain’t going to work. Throwing the ball away is a clear indication of how you’re going to lose the game, especially in the playoffs.”
Another concern Popper raises is stagnation on offense, with Brown saying too often players were standing and watching whoever had the ball. Popper notes that Jalen Brunson finished with 32 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, but he only had five assists as the offense lacked its usual fluidity.
“We’ve got to pick up the ball movement, for sure,” Towns said. “We have to. Two, we have, what, 13 games in a row, 50 days of film to show what it looks like when we’re at our best. So we’ve got good film. We’ll get back to our fundamentals, what makes us great, what made us great, and get back to work.”
There’s more from New York:
- Speaking to reporters before tonight’s Game 4, Brown addressed the league’s decision to not give Victor Wembanyama a flagrant foul for an incident with Brunson early in Monday’s contest, per James L. Edwards of The Athletic (Twitter link). “They’re not going to listen to me,” Brown told reporters. “I said my piece. You just hope at the end of the day things are consistent on both ends.”
- One of the Knicks’ most valuable qualities is having a core of players who have been together for several years, states Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. As it becomes tougher to keep rosters intact due to CBA restrictions, teams that can establish continuity tend to have an advantage. Vorkunov points out that it’s been true for every NBA champion since 2021. “I think you just get a familiarity and a certain comfort level with those guys,” Josh Hart said. “All of them can go out there and make plays, especially end of shot clock. … I think it’s more so the trust that’s built, and you know where everyone likes the ball and plays for them to execute.”
- Leon Rose‘s refusal to speak to the media has kept him out of the spotlight more than most other NBA executives, but the Knicks’ president has done an incredible job building the current roster, observes Chris Mannix of SI. Mannix examines the moves that Rose has made over the past five years to turn the franchise around, including the 2022 signing of Brunson in free agency. “I think he has a great basketball mind,” Brunson said of Rose. “The way he’s been able to do this, especially here with all the scrutiny people do to him and everything, I just think the way he goes about his business is as good as anyone.”
- Jeremy Lin, who earned his greatest fame during his time in New York, believes Brunson deserves more credit for giving the Knicks a discount in his last extension and providing the financial flexibility that made them title contenders, per Melissa Rohlin of The California Post. “I don’t think enough people are talking about him giving up $113MM to build a team full of players that want to win,” Lin said. “I think that speaks volumes. That’s also historic. It’s not talked about enough. Now he’s starting to get some of the recognition he deserves as a player, but he’s the consummate teammate and professional.”
Knicks Notes: Brunson, Towns, Brown, NBA Finals
It was family connections that brought Jalen Brunson to the Knicks in 2022, more than the money or the chance to play in the NBA’s biggest city, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN writes in a lengthy profile of the All-Star guard. Brunson had deep connections to team president Leon Rose, who had served as an agent for both him and his father, Rick, and worked hard to get the elder Brunson a job in the NBA after his playing career ended. When the Knicks hired Rick as an assistant coach shortly before Brunson hit free agency, the deal was virtually sealed.
“I think Jalen had a loyalty to the Mavs because they’d drafted him, but the Knicks were his actual family,” a Mavericks source told Shelburne. “I don’t think we fully grasped that.”
Former Dallas general manager Donnie Nelson was thrilled to land Brunson in the second round in 2018 and team him with the Mavs’ other draft prize, Slovenian guard Luka Doncic. Both became rotation players right away, but Doncic showed immediate signs of stardom and their defensive liabilities raised questions about whether they could play together.
With the chance to offer Brunson an extension in the summer of 2021, the Mavs told him that they wanted to further evaluate the fit of the roster, according to Shelburne, who adds that they were also determining whether they could afford to keep Brunson and Dorian Finney-Smith. Brunson reportedly told Dallas officials the following January that he would agree to an extension if it was offered then, but the Mavericks preferred to keep their options open if they had the chance to trade for a star, and an extension would have taken Brunson off the market. They made identical offers to Brunson and Finney-Smith after the deadline passed, but Brunson turned his down.
With free agency looming, the Knicks began clearing cap space on draft day with Brunson as their obvious target. The four-year, $104MM deal they ultimately gave Brunson was ridiculed by some as an overpay, but it turned out to be a huge bargain. Brunson became a star in New York and is on the verge of giving the city its first NBA title in 53 years.
“He’s comfortable there,” former Knick Jamal Crawford said. “They empowered him. They believed in him. He’s got guys on the team from Villanova that he knows and who fit his play style. He’s got his dad on the bench who knows exactly what buttons to push to get him going. He knows Leon. So with that comfortability, I think you’re going to get the best of him.”
There’s more from New York City:
- Karl-Anthony Towns‘ ability to alter his game in the midst of the playoffs has made the Knicks a more dangerous team, Steve Popper of Newsday notes in a subscriber-only story. After months of clashing with first-year head coach Mike Brown over his role in the offense, Towns accepted Brown’s vision when the team faced a 2-1 deficit against Atlanta in the first round. “It’s about impacting winning,” Towns said. “Especially this year throughout the year, I’ve always had to change my role for the betterment of the team. I’ve always had to change the way I play so it could be most beneficial for the team.”
- The Knicks began their coaching search last summer by calling several teams to ask about the status of their incumbent coaches, recalls James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. When Chicago, Houston, Dallas and others refused to grant permission for an interview, New York turned to Brown, who wound up being the perfect candidate and wasn’t bothered that he wasn’t the team’s first choice.
- Five Athletic writers discuss whether Towns is headed for Finals MVP honors and several other topics in a roundtable about the championship series.
Knicks’ James Dolan Talks Brown, Towns, Bridges, Rose
Knicks owner James Dolan doesn’t speak to reporters often, so he’ll generate headlines by simply giving an interview about his NBA team, no matter what he says. But his remarks about the Knicks in January were hardly by the numbers. Publicly discussing the team with a media member for the first time in nearly three years, Dolan said the Knicks should win this year’s title and that making the NBA Finals was something “we’ve absolutely got to do.”
Sitting down for another rare interview ahead of the Finals, Dolan explained to Steve Serby of The New York Post why he essentially gave the club a Finals-or-bust mandate over four months ago.
“That’s why I don’t do a lot of interviews — I’m usually very frank,” the Knicks’ owner said with a smile. “I did not go into the interview thinking, ‘Oh I’m gonna say this.’ But it was on my mind, and I knew that the rest of the organization knew it too — we all knew it.
“We knew it from the moment that we said goodbye to (Tom Thibodeau) and we hired Mike (Brown), that we were gonna be in a hot spot because we just made the conference finals. We didn’t win, but you don’t make a change unless you’re expecting to do better. We didn’t change ’cause we wanted it to be worse! To me, it was a little obvious, so I just said it because it was obvious.”
While the Knicks didn’t make any major roster changes last summer ahead of the 2025/26 season, they did make a coaching change, as Dolan notes, controversially firing Thibodeau on the heels of the club’s deepest playoff run in a quarter-century.
New York was linked to several other coaching candidates before hiring Brown, which made it seem as if he wasn’t the team’s first – or second – choice. However, Dolan told Serby that president of basketball operations Leon Rose was convinced Brown was the right man for the job.
“We knew we had a good coach in Thibs. We weren’t just going for a change, right? There was something we wanted, and we laid it out, really on paper, what we were looking for in a coach,” Dolan said. “I would say the number one quality was collaborative, that was a big piece … somebody who strategically could avail himself of all the minds around him and put it together, particularly at game time, between halves, that was a big thing. And we were looking for flexibility.
“So we laid out all these sort of characteristics that we were looking for, and then I set Leon loose. And he interviewed a lot of different guys, and he came back with Mike, and I’m like, ‘OK.’ Leon did all the work. I just blessed it.”
Here are a few more highlights from Dolan’s interview with Serby:
On the Knicks’ decision to trade for Karl-Anthony Towns ahead of the 2024/25 season:
“First off, we had Isaiah (Hartenstein) before KAT, and we lost Isaiah because the rules did not allow us to hang onto him. By the CBA, etc., we were only allowed to offer him X amount of money. Other teams were allowed to offer him more. Probably should try and correct that in the next CBA with KAT. Our first preference would have been to keep going with Isaiah.
“So once we lost Isaiah, we knew we needed a big man, we needed a center, a focal point there. I knew KAT from before, I actually know him for about four or five years. I knew that he liked New York, he wanted to come. I was thrilled because to have an option like KAT was heaven-sent.”
On how difficult it was to give up five first-round picks in the trade for Mikal Bridges:
“It took a little thought (smile). Look, that’s the NBA. The idea was that Mikal was a building block for the team we wanted, which is the team we have on the floor now. We didn’t think we’d be in a lottery — we don’t expect to be in a lottery for quite some time. So, (the picks) weren’t quite as valuable … and Mikal is another player who I think we’re starting to understand just how impactful he could be.”
On hiring Rose to run the front office in 2020:
“I obviously have been doing this for a while before Leon showed up, and it was much more about just getting convinced that no matter if you get the most brilliant strategist in the world, you have to have talent in order to win. And so I thought about the guy who would be best in bringing talent to New York, and Leon’s name was at the very top of the list.
“The way he deals with the whole organization is different. He almost has an agent’s mentality about it. He’s very collaborative. He’s very big on creating a feeling of family inside of the team. It starts with him and (William Wesley) who do that. When he took the job, I think he thought long and hard about how he wanted to do it. I think this is how he wanted to do it.”
Knicks Notes: Brunson, Robinson, Rose, Sacrifice
Jalen Brunson accomplished something no other Knick has since the turn of the millennium, leading New York to the NBA Finals for a shot at bringing home the team’s first championship since 1973. For the people who have watched him the most, this success is only natural, given the makeup of who he is as a player.
“He has an iron will. He’s not tall, he’s not fast, he’s not overly athletic. But he’s one of the mentally strongest players I’ve ever been around,” said longtime Knicks and ESPN broadcaster Mike Breen in an interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post. “They talk about Michael Jordan, they talk about Kobe Bryant … in terms of mental toughness, I’d put him up there with anybody.”
Breen, who has worked alongside Knicks legend Walt Frazier for years, says that regardless of whether or not the Knicks beat the Spurs, Brunson has put himself in the conversation for the greatest Knick of all time, despite only being with the team for four seasons.
Brunson is also making a special kind of history, as his appearance in the NBA Finals will mark the first time that a father-son duo both played in the Finals for the same team, the NBA announced (via Twitter). Brunson’s father – and Knicks assistant coach – Rick Brunson played for New York in the team’s 1999 Finals matchup against, coincidentally, the Spurs. The elder Brunson played just 10 seconds in the series as a bench depth piece, while the younger Brunson’s responsibilities will be considerably greater.
We have more news and notes from the Knicks:
- According to head coach Mike Brown, Mitchell Robinson did some individual work during the Knicks’ practice on Sunday, per Stefan Bondy of the Post (Twitter link). Brown said he wasn’t sure exactly what Robinson is wearing to protect his pinky finger, which recently underwent surgery, nor could he provide an availability update on the big man for Game 1. The Knicks’ backup center figures to play a crucial role in the series, if healthy, as his size, defensive ability, and offensive rebounding could be a critical part of New York’s plan to deal with Victor Wembanyama.
- When Leon Rose took over the Knicks’ front office, the club was in the midst of what would end up being a 21-45 season, cut short by COVID. The first decision he made was to hire Tom Thibodeau to lead the team into what he hoped would be a resurgence of competitiveness. That was move one of 160 that brought the team from perpetual bottom-feeder to Eastern Conference champions, Mike Vaccaro writes for the Post. While there were a couple of missteps, such as the summer of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, Rose was able to quickly fix his own mistakes as easily as he moved on from those of his predecessors.
- If there’s one word that describes the makeup of this Knicks team, it’s sacrifice — so much so that the door of the team locker room has a “Standard of a Champion” contract signed by every player and coach, Jared Schwartz writes for the Post. “My willingness to sacrifice at the highest level for the team, on and off the floor will represent my dedication to our collective objective,” the first clause in the contract reads. The players have taken that philosophy to heart, whether it’s Karl-Anthony Towns sacrificing shots in order to help facilitate the team offense, Jordan Clarkson shifting from the run-and-gun style he played in Utah to hustling for offensive rebounds and intensifying his defensive intensity, or Robinson being willing to play a lesser role than he did a few years ago. “Being unselfish, I think that’s the biggest thing,” Josh Hart said. “And where we’re at right now, everyone is unselfish. We’re willing to sacrifice numbers and stats for the betterment of the team. And I think when we do that, we’re playing our best basketball.”
Knicks Notes: Finals Mandate, Robinson, Brunson, Rose
Even before Knicks owner James Dolan spoke in January about his team “absolutely” needing to make the NBA Finals, coming out of the East had been the goal – and the expectation – for Knicks players and coaches, writes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post.
“We all had that aspiration regardless, so we didn’t really need to hear that because we all wanted that moment, we all wanted to see that, especially after last year being in the Eastern Conference finals and coming up short,” Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns said. “We understand that we’ve gotta take that next step. So what he’s talking about is also how we all felt.”
Dolan’s Finals-or-bust mandate raised some eyebrows at the time. At that point in the season, the Knicks were in the midst of a four-game losing streak and a stretch of nine losses in 11 games, which allowed the Celtics to pass them for good in the Eastern Conference standings. But according to Josh Hart, the team didn’t feel any additional pressure as a result of Dolan’s remarks.
“Not pressure, because I think that’s the goal that we all kind of have,” Hart said. “Obviously, it hits a little bit different when the big dog says it. But that’s the goal that each and every one of us has. And we’re our own biggest critics, so this kind of adds a little bit more fuel to that internal fire of the hunger to get there.”
We have more on the Knicks:
- Mitchell Robinson‘s broken pinky finger didn’t occur during a game or practice, according to head coach Mike Brown (Twitter link via Fred Katz of The Athletic). When Brown was asked a follow-up question about how Robinson injured the finger, a Knicks media relations staffer stepped in and said, “We’re not going to get into specifics.” As we relayed earlier today, Robinson is undergoing surgery to repair the fracture and is aiming to suit up in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday. According to Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes (Twitter link), no player since 2005 has missed fewer than 14 days due to a pinky fracture that required surgery, so Robinson will be looking to beat that timeline by a considerable margin.
- With New York just four games away from a championship, current Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon was asked about her December 2023 assertion on ESPN that the Knicks wouldn’t be able to win a title while being led by a small guard like Jalen Brunson. “I don’t know why everybody’s so stuck on that,” Hammon said this week, per Devon Henderson of The Athletic. “I said it two years ago. I stand by it. There’s no air to be cleared. I said what I said. He proves me wrong, he proves me wrong. Good for him. But I do think the two best teams are in the West.
- The Knicks’ run to the NBA Finals is a testament to Leon Rose‘s decision-making and roster-building, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who suggests certain moves the president of basketball operations didn’t make – such as trading for Donovan Mitchell – were as important as the ones he did make.
- Who will the Knicks be rooting for in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday? James L. Edwards III of The Athletic considers whether New York would match up better with the Thunder or Spurs, ultimately concluding that San Antonio would be the more favorable opponent.
Knicks Notes: Sochan, Alvarado, Diawara, Deadline, Grades
The Knicks like Jeremy Sochan‘s “defensive versatility, upside” and ability to handle the ball, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter video link). The former lottery pick will reportedly sign a veteran’s minimum deal with New York covering the remainder of the season once he clears waivers.
As Begley observes, the Knicks’ ability to sign Sochan is largely due to the fact that Guerschon Yabusele agreed to decline his $5.8MM player option for next season because he wanted an opportunity to play again. New York was able to deal Yabusele to Chicago for Dalen Terry, then flipped Terry ($5.4MM) and a pair of second-round picks to New Orleans for Jose Alvarado ($4.5MM).
The Knicks saved enough money in those moves that they were able to add a player on the buyout market right away, rather than having to wait until the final weeks of the season.
The Spurs reached a buyout agreement with Sochan on Wednesday once he had another team lined up, tweets Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. While McDonald’s use of the term “buyout” suggests the fourth-year forward gave up some money as part of his release, that hasn’t been confirmed or reported elsewhere.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Backup guard Alvarado has quickly made a strong impression on his new team, per Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. Alvarado took umbrage with Trendon Watford on Wednesday after the Sixers forward committed a hard foul on Mitchell Robinson, sparking a Knicks run that blew the game open and ultimately resulted in a 49-point victory. “He did a hard foul, but I think he did a little extra with the staring,” Alvarado said. “I’m just not gonna go for none of that. It was just in the moment. That’s when I’m at my best, I guess, getting a little active. It worked out in my favor.” The Brooklyn native had a huge game, tying a career high with eight threes en route to a season-high 26 points, five steals, four assists and three rebounds in just 19 minutes. He was a team-high plus-35 as well, Schwartz notes. “That’s what we need,” Josh Hart said of Alvarado. “That’s what we want from him. Obviously that toughness, ability to help us get organized, ability to knock down shots. And defensively bring energy, bring physicality, get in the passing lanes, those kinds of things. That’s why he’s here.”
- Second-round pick Mohamed Diawara wasn’t expected to play much for the Knicks as a rookie, but the 20-year-old forward has taken advantage of his recent opportunities with OG Anunoby sidelined, James L. Edwards III writes for The Athletic. Hart says he noticed Diawara’s potential in training camp. “In camp, I thought he was going to be real good,” Hart said. “He’s young, raw and inexperienced. He’s good defensively, and he’s an even better shooter than I thought. It always looked good, but now it’s going in. I think he’s a good decision-maker in the pocket. He’s athletic and can finish at the rim, get guys involved. I love where he’s at, and he’s continued to work.”
- Fred Katz and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic review New York’s deadline deals and look ahead to the remainder of the season. Both writers stuck with their preseason predictions that the Knicks will make the NBA Finals, though neither feels as confident in that prediction as they did a few months ago.
- In a subscriber-only story for The New York Post, Stefan Bondy gives out midseason grades for each player on the standard roster, with Jalen Brunson receiving the lone A (Hart and Landry Shamet each got an A-minus). He also grades the performance of head coach Mike Brown (B) and the offseason moves of Leon Rose (C-minus).
Knicks’ Dolan Talks Expectations, Thibodeau, Roster, More
Owner James Dolan publicly discussed the Knicks with a media member for the first time in nearly three years on Monday during an interview with WFAN’s Craig Carton, writes Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The 70-year-old made it clear he has high expectations for the team.
“We want to get to the [NBA] Finals. And we should win the Finals,” Dolan said. “This is sports and anything can happen. But getting to the Finals, we absolutely got to do.”
New York made the Eastern Conference Finals last season for the first time in 25 years and promptly fired Tom Thibodeau. Dolan acknowledged the team’s former head coach played an important role in returning the Knicks to prominence, but stood by the decision.
“The team is really built on the shoulders of Tom Thibodeau. He built that core,” Dolan said. “We went as far as we did last year. So you really got to take your hat off to Tom. And the job that he did.
“But we did come to the conclusion that we had an idea how we wanted to organize the team. And that meant we needed to evolve. Actually beyond the old traditional coaching formulas. And we tried to work that with Tom. It really wasn’t his thing.”
According to Vincent Goodwill of ESPN, Dolan said he and president of basketball operations Leon Rose talked to Thibodeau multiple times about their desire to develop the team’s young players and bench unit so the starters weren’t worn down. Still, Dolan endorsed Thibodeau to coach another team.
“I won’t say you can’t win a title with Tom Thibodeau; I don’t know that’s true,” Dolan said. “But if you want to build a long-term, competitive, compete for the [title], you need someone who’s much more of a collaborator. But still, Tom was a great coach. He should coach in the NBA again.”
The 23-13 Knicks entered Monday’s game in Detroit having lost three straight games, a skid that extended to four when they were blown out by the top-seeded Pistons. But Dolan believes in the current roster and disputed an ESPN report that said the team discussed a trade involving Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo over the summer.
“We love our team right now. They have chemistry, they all like each other. I’ve never seen a locker room more copacetic,” Dolan said, per Bondy. “There’s a lot of energy there. Leon can always overrule me. But I don’t see us making a big change. Because we got to keep building up this group. This group can win a championship. I believe that.”
Dolan is optimistic the returns of Josh Hart and Landry Shamet will help lift the team out of its current slump, Goodwill notes. Both players are expected to be back in the next week or so.
“Look how far we got with our group last year and look at who was playing and who wasn’t,” Dolan said. “We’re going into the second half of the season, Josh is still out and Landry is coming back. We got depth. We stay healthy, we’ll go into the playoffs in much better condition than last year.”
The Knicks won the NBA Cup last month. Dolan was asked about the decision not to raise a banner for that title at Madison Square Garden, as Christian Arnold of The New York Post relays.
“We are going to raise the banner,” Dolan said. “We’re going to raise the NBA championship banner. That’s the banner we want to raise. We want an NBA championship, we don’t want some consolation prize.”