The New York Knicks made arguably one of the biggest moves of the offseason when they fired head coach Tom Thibodeau despite coming off a season in which he guided the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1999-00 season.

The move signaled that the organization didn’t feel that the style of basketball Thibodeau was playing could lead the Knicks to a title. The front office believed that a wholesale change in philosophy and approach was needed to maximize the considerable talent on the roster, and so one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference headed into the 2025-2026 season with a chance to be a drastically different team under new head coach Mike Brown.

“Things are never going to be the same, obviously,” said Knicks All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson after the 119-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, “but I think the most important thing that we do is to come with a clear mind and be open to learning, open to getting better. Every year is different. Obviously, we have a lot of returning guys, so that may be the same, but things are different, and it’s all about how you adapt and how you adjust. Learning on the fly is gonna be good for us. It’s gonna keep us fresh.”

So what are the Knicks trying to learn on the fly? What changes is Mike Brown bringing, and how could that change the outlook of the Knicks this season? I dug in after watching Wednesday’s game in person.

A deeper team that will use more rotations and smaller lineups

One of the biggest criticisms of Thibodeau was that he overworked his starters. Last season, three Knicks finished in the top six in the NBA in minutes per game, with Josh Hart, Mikail Bridges, and OG Anunoby all averaging 36.6 minutes per game or more. Jalen Brunson also finished 17th in the league with 35.4 minutes per game, but those numbers were impacted by a few games in which he played sparingly or left early due to injury.

On the season, the Knicks only had seven players average at least 20 minutes per game, and if you remove players who appeared in 17 games or fewer on the season, the Knicks only had eight players who averaged 15 minutes per game.

There was a strong desire for the team to deepen its bench and get more use out of the reserves to ease some of the burden on their starters. Within 13 minutes of the opening night game against the Cavaliers, Coach Brown had used 11 players, and that was with key role players Josh Hart (back) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) both out for the night.

“I’d like to play a lot of guys,” Brown smiled after the game. “I don’t know if I’ll play 11 guys every night, but we’d like to play as many as we can, and we want everybody to be ready in case their number is called any given time.”

Some of the criticism of how Thibodeau handled his bench was that young players didn’t have the chance to improve, and players who were further down on the bench weren’t ready to contribute when injuries forced them onto the court. That doesn’t seem to be a concern that fans or the organization will have under Coach Brown. “I truly believe this team is a deep team,” Brown said after the game,” and I need to give Leon Rose and his group a lot of credit for it. It’s my job to keep trying to find combinations out on the floor to work.”

On Wednesday, the Knicks used 18 different lineups. That included some small-ball lineups with OG Anunoby at center when Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson pulled either starting big Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen from the game. Those types of three-guard lineups or five perimeter player lineups were something that Thibodeau never seemed open to trying, but could conceivably work well with a player like Anunoby, who’s 6’7″ but plays with physicality and led the Knicks with 14 rebounds on Wednesday.

Interestingly, the Knicks broke an 87-87 tie and went on a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter on Wednesday with three bench players (Deuce McBride, Jordan Clarkson, and Tyler Kolek) all on the court. That lineup, which also featured Anunoby and Karl Anthony Towns, was the Knicks’ best lineup of the night by Net Rating, even if they were only on the court together for five minutes. However, that five-minute stretch was tied for the third-longest stretch any Knicks lineup was on the floor together, with the starting five of Brunson, Towns, Anunoby, Mikail Bridges, and Ariel Hukporti leading the way at nine minutes together.

That’s a lot of shuffling and staggering lineups in a way that Knicks fans are not used to.

While some of this is obviously the experimentation of an early-season game, it’s also the type of experimentation that the Knicks never did under Tom Thibodeau. Not only will it allow Coach Brown to get a better sense of his players and which guys can play better with one another, but it also puts a lot of pressure on the opposing defense to adjust to the different styles and skillsets that step onto the court.

“I mean, just put pressure on the other team,” answered forward Mikail Bridges when asked about the benefit of the Knicks’ deep lineup. “I feel like we have a lot of talent, so I like our bench that comes in better than a lot of other benches. Come in and put pressure and make the [other] guys gotta guard them, because everybody comes in fresh. There are different looks defensively, different looks offensively.”

While that will likely mean a few fewer minutes for the Knicks starters this year, it might make their minutes more impactful by keeping them fresh and keeping the defense on its toes. It could also mean a big uptick and usage for key bench players like McBride, who was tremendous on Wednesday, scoring 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting (4-of-6 from three) in 26 minutes. He also posted a game-high +17 +/- rating.

More Off-Ball Movement and Less Isolation on Offense

We saw the changes in the Knicks’ offense right from the first possession of the game.

After the Cavs made the opening shot of the game, it was Bridges who brought the ball up the floor for the Knicks. While he did that, erstwhile point guard Brunson ran up the right wing and then cut to the left elbow across the court. He then flared out into the left corner, set a screen away from the ball for OG Anunoby, and then ran a baseline cut to the right corner, where the ball swung around to him for an open three-point shot that he knocked down.

From a larger NBA perspective, there’s nothing unique about this play or this motion. The elements are simple, even for a high school basketball offense; however, the fact that it was Brunson executing these motions is what stands out.

For much of the past two seasons, it has seemed like the Knicks’ primary offense was based on having Jalen Brunson slowly dribble the ball up the court and go to work on his defender while the rest of the Knicks stood on the perimeter or set him a screen.

Brunson’s 17.3% isolation rate was the 17th-highest in the NBA among players who appeared in more than 20 games, and he was 11th in the league in most isolation possessions per game. However, he was also impactful in that role, ranking fourth in the league with 1.10 points per possession in his isolation possessions. That trailed only Cam Thomas, Jayson Tatum, and Kyrie Irving.

Still, it also proved to be a detrimental approach for the Knicks overall. For starters, it caused players like Bridges and Anunoby to be more passive, spending a lot of their time standing on the wing and then trying to make plays off the ball to create openings for their own looks. It also made the Knicks predictable on offense, and many teams started to send double teams at Brunson the second that he crossed halfcourt, which stalled the offense and led to an increase in turnovers.

This version of the Knicks offense will share the ball-handling duties too much for that to happen, but this version will also seem to have more initiators, which is great for the production of the other ball-handlers.

On Wednesday, Brunson spent a lot of time off the ball with OG Anunoby, Mikail Bridges, Deuce McBride, and Tyler Kolek all taking turns acting as a more traditional point guard. Having Brunson off the ball more meant that Bridges and Anunoby were asked to create more offense on their own, which made them more assertive and aggressive than we saw from them last year. As a result, Anunoby led the Knicks with 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting to go along with his 14 rebounds, two assists, and three steals. Bridges, meanwhile, led the team with six assists while also adding 16 points, five rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.

The Knicks had five players score at least 15 points, while nine different players recorded an assist, and six players hit at least one three-pointer. The ball was moving around the court quickly and effectively, and the Knicks got more good shots than they wound up capitalizing on, as they shot just 14-for-40 (35%) from beyond the arc. Which is just to say, there was more meat on the bone.

So what will Brunson do in this offense if not be a ball-dominant point guard? Well, that first possession is a strong indicator of how he can operate away from the ball. Last season, Brunson shot only 25 total three from the left corner in 65 games at 35.4 minutes per game. He took 34 total threes from the right corner, where his first three was launched from, but shot 50% on those attempts during the season, so he could be impactful from that spot on the court.

According to All NBA Podcast, Brunson had seven catch-and-shoot threes on Wednesday night, the most in any game during his time with the Knicks. He also had 5.3 feet between him and the closest defender on his field goal attempts, which was the sixth-most space he’s ever had in his time with the Knicks, and only 56% of his field goal attempts were self-created, which was the lowest percentage in any game during his time in New York.

“I’m very comfortable shooting the ball regardless of where I shoot the ball,” said Brunson after the game. “I mean, I wasn’t comfortable tonight with 5-of-18, but I have a comfort level that I’m very confident with.” That was backed up by his teammates, who don’t see any reason why Brunson can’t succeed in an off-ball role.

“JB can play anywhere on the court,” added Bridges. “Even him, like his size, he can post up guys too. So, like, he could do about anything… I think everybody on our team is talented and can do a lot of things. I think all of us can dribble drive, make the right read, and, you know, try to do whatever it takes.”

“It was kind of the same. A little bit different,” Brunson admitted about his role in game one. “At the end of the day, we’re going to get into actions no matter who has [the ball], and then we’re going to be aggressive. It’s all about finding the right thing to do at the right time, reading each other, making plays. So regardless of who’s bringing it up, everyone’s still a threat to be aggressive.”

That aggression is another crucial difference in Coach Brown’s offense.

His plan to utilize the strengths of a team that he feels has plenty of players who can create and attack the rim is to focus on setting up “spray” opportunities. A “spray” is when a player attacks the lane and has his feet in the paint before kicking out for an open three-point look, or “spraying” a pass from the paint to the perimeter. This is a central focus of Mike Brown’s offense, but it was not something the Knicks did often last year.

“We had 21 sprays,” recounted Brown after the game. “We want to get to at least 20 a game where we touch that paint because anytime you touch paint, teams have got to protect the paint. But now those wide-open shots happen. I think we can even generate more. I think we can generate 25-27 a game because we have that many players, in my opinion, that are capable of shooting the ball, snap-driving, and touching the paint and moving it on when they need to off two feet.”

If Wednesday night is any indication, we may not see as many games where Brunson takes over, but he still can if they need him to, and he remains the engine that drives the train. It’s just that more people are also getting a chance to drive a little bit this season, and that’s improving the performance of the entire team.

Playing at a much faster pace

Another big change for the Knicks will be their pace of play. As Coach Brown said pretty bluntly, “We want to play fast all the time. Just put pressure on, pressure on, pressure on.”

As The Athletic’s Fred Katz noted, during five preseason games, the Knicks took an average of 5.4 seconds to get into their first actions, which was the fourth-fastest pace in the league, according to Second Spectrum. Last season, the Knicks ranked 28th in that stat, so it’s a pretty massive change in approach.

In Wednesday’s game, that meant looking to outlet quickly on the defensive glass and catch the Cavs in transition. When the Knicks were able to do that early in the game, they were able to get quick layups or open looks before the Cavs were able to set up their defense. They just weren’t consistent about it.

“We took our foot off the gas, started walking the ball up, started walking into our actions,” admitted Coach Brown after the game. “That allowed Cleveland to sit in the passing lanes and zone up and do some other things. And so for us, you know, once we got over that hurdle, we realized, ‘Hey, we got to keep playing, trying to play the way we play.’ We were good.”

It may take the Knicks a while for this new approach to become second nature, but with guys like Anunoby, Bridges, McBride, Hart, and Robinson, playing fast should be an easy adjustment.

Changes to defensive philosophy, including more full-court

Lastly, there were a few key differences in how the Knicks defended as well.

One of the biggest things I saw was their willingness to switch on the pick-and-roll more often, especially with their big men. A staple under Tom Thibodeau was having the big man sag off the screen or hedge into the lane to prevent penetration. However, that also gave offenses wide-open looks or created confusion regarding which offensive player was the responsibility of which defender. On Wednesday, the Knicks not only succeeded in switching more often on the screens, but they also made it a point to give offensive players different looks against multiple defenders. In particular, against Donovan Mitchell.

“We just kept trying to throw a lot of different guys at him,” explained Coach Brown. “We just kept playing our game and tried to throw different bodies at him so that he had to continue to work against a fresh body or a different type of player. Not one person is going to stop him, so as the quarter went along, we were more conscious of being in our shifts to make it a little bit more difficult for him to see daylight.”

That was backed up by Anunoby, who said that the Knicks’ focus was “Just pressing the ball. Giving teams different looks and trying to wear them out over the course of a game.”

Another new aspect of the Knicks’ defensive strategy seems to be working more in tandem with one another.

In the quote above, Coach Brown mentions being conscious of shifts and making it more difficult for Mitchell to see daylight. He’s referring to defensive positioning, both with the on-ball defender and off-ball defender, to work in conjunction with one another to try and cut off attack lanes to the basket before they materialize. It’s something that Bridges noted after the game had been a focal point in the preseason.

“What we’ve been practicing helped us a lot. Just communicating and being in a shift. I think it’s boosting our defense and being a little more aggressive off the ball as well. You know, making the guy that’s on ball not think it’s just one-on-one. I think we’ve been doing a better job so far.”

The last new defensive wrinkle that the Knicks seemed to work on during preseason was picking up full-court more often. Guarding a full 94 feet has become more of a trend in the league of late, but the Knicks didn’t do much of it at all last season, despite having good defenders like Bridges, Hart, and Anunoby. However, it seems to be more of a focus now so that the Knicks can amplify their aggression on that side of the ball and also make the offense work harder.

“You want to turn them,” explained Bridges about the goal of playing full-court defense. “You want to get them out of the offense a little bit, make them start their offense a little bit later. But also, I think it gives confidence to the four guys who are watching. Like, okay, I see him up there locked in…so I think that kind of sets the tone, gets everybody dialed in and engaged. I think that’s everything.”

Through one game, many of these changes worked for the Knicks and were exciting for their fans. It’s only one game, and there will certainly be some inconsistencies in the early stages of the season, but the Knicks are now playing a style of basketball that can optimize the skillsets of the players on their roster and make them tougher to game plan for. Even if they struggled with some of the changes early in the season, by the time it all clicks together in the second half, they could be one of the most dangerous teams in the league.

“The great part about it is we’ve got a lot of room to grow,” smiled Coach Brown, “and that’s what’s exciting.”