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The Knicks Are Built to Make More History Next Season, No Matter the Odds

Michael King Send an email 37 minutes ago

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In any major North American sports league, it’s extremely difficult to repeat as a champion, but we’ve had repeat champions in the other three major North American sports leagues over the last few years. The L.A. Dodgers will be looking to complete a three-peat this fall, the Florida Panthers won in 2024-25, and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023-24.

Outside of the Stephen Curry Warriors’ dynasty that won three titles in four years (2015, 2017-18) and LeBron James’ Big Three in Miami that won back-to-back titles in 2012-13, we’ve seen far more parity in the NBA. The NBA has had eight different champions in the last eight seasons (Knicks, Thunder, Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Bucks, Lakers, Raptors).

In fact, no champion without LeBron, Curry or Kobe has even returned to the NBA Finals in the following year since the Pistons won the 2004 Finals and lost to the Spurs in 2005.

The challenge of repeating as champion

Since the turn of the century in 2000, following the Lakers’ 1999-2000 NBA championship season, we’ve seen 10 of the previous 26 NBA champions return to the NBA Finals in the following season.

Of those 10 teams, three of them had Stephen Curry, three of them had LeBron James, and three of them had Kobe Bryant. The other was one of the most underappreciated two-year runs in the 21st century by the Pistons.

You look at the Knicks and they aren’t necessarily that type of world beater.

In the 2025-26 regular season, the Knicks had a +6.6 net rating, which is largely impacted by their tough 2-9 stretch in the middle of the season. In the 2026 playoffs, they put up one of the most dominant stretches in NBA history, ultimately posting a +16.1 net rating.

Add that all up and the Knicks had a +8.4 net rating across 102 games in their title season, including the NBA Cup Final win. That’s not some staggering number at all.

However, it’s still one of the 20 or so most dominant seasons in the last two-and-a-half decades. According to StatMuse, only 23 teams have posted a net rating of +8.0 or higher in a single season since the start of the 1999-2000 season… and the Knicks are one of them.

The good news is that Mike Brown is at the helm for the Knicks and not Tom Thibodeau, not just because Brown just won a championship with the Knicks, but because he’s much, much better at not running the team into the ground.

Thibs’ departure still paying dividends for Knicks

As reported by The New York Daily News, Josh Hart’s longtime trainer Stefan Valdes said that he believes Josh Hart’s efficiency jump from three (32.2% in 2024-25 to a career-high 41.3% in 2025-26) directly correlated with his minutes reduction in 2025-26 under Brown.

Hart had led the NBA in minutes per game in 2024-25 at 37.6 minutes per game. During their championship season in 2025-26, that number dropped to 30.2 minutes per game. “He had fresher legs,” Valdes told The New York Daily News.

It wasn’t just Hart who played less. It was everyone who played substantial minutes under Thibs in the previous season, and that stood out even more in the playoffs.

Mikal Bridges was playing over seven fewer minutes per game compared to the 2025 playoff run. Karl-Anthony Towns was just over 30 minutes per game in 2026, compared to 35.5 minutes per game in 2025. Jalen Brunson played 36.9 per game in the 2026 playoffs, but that was still less than the 37.8 per game under Thibs in 2025.

And a lot of the minutes reductions can be attributed to Brown trusting guys outside of his top seven, and to the front office for finding the role players needed to win a title.

Landry Shamet went from just 7.5 minutes per game in the 2025 postseason, mostly only playing in the final handful of games in that run, to 16.3 minutes per game in 2026. Guys like Jordan Clarkson and Jose Alvarado got meaningful run in the 2026 playoffs, and both players were on different teams in 2024-25.

In the title-clinching game, Game 5 of the 2026 Finals, Brown used 12 players! 10 players played at least six or more minutes in the game. Nine guys played double-digit minutes. Again, that’s just a testament to Mike Brown for trying everything at any moment throughout the whole season to give him this luxury in the most meaningful spots down the road, as well as the front office for hitting on their swings.

Prepare in advance: don’t overreact to a slow start

We might see the Knicks come out cold out of the gate, because championship hangovers do exist.

However, that’ll give Mike Brown even more ammo to try out everything. And that’s when he thrives the most. Tyler Kolek on Christmas Day, Mo Diawara against the Spurs and Celtics. Kevin McCullar Jr. against the Hawks before New Year’s Day. There was even a game in March against the Pacers with three key players (Hart, KAT, McBride) out where Pacôme Dadiet got extended run in the team’s win.

The added caveat is Mike Brown and the front office values winning AND managing health throughout an 82-game regular season. We saw Brown pull some goofy lineups out of his bag all year, and especially after the NBA Cup Final when the Knicks valued resting players for the long haul. There should be trust there in Brown to manage the team in all facets and then to turn up the dial once the season winds down and the playoffs come into view.

The Knicks ran through the East on their way to the Finals in 2026, but the conference will look much different in 2026-27. The Sixers added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. The Celtics will have a fully healthy Jayson Tatum (and Paul George). The Pistons added more offensive threats, and the Hawks added solid rotation pieces. The Raptors are working towards a Kawhi Leonard reunion. The Heat traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The second year of Mike Brown will have drastically different expectations, since he got the one big thing out of the way… winning a championship. However, it’d definitely be special for this team to not be a one-hit wonder and to go out and win another one.

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