Possibly you can have scripted a greater begin to this Knicks season—nevertheless it wouldn’t have been straightforward.
The Knicks have been that good of their first 12 months below head coach Mike Brown. They’re close to the highest of the Japanese Convention for a second straight season, solely this time the championship discuss doesn’t really feel aspirational. It feels earned. This roster appears to be like just like the model it envisioned again within the offseason, and solely now could be it starting to faucet into what its ceiling would possibly really be.
Which makes this the right time for a winter report card.
The Knicks enter the vacation break with standout grades throughout the board—from the celebs to the margins of the rotation to the coach himself. If it is a midterm examination, New York is passing with room to develop.
Mohamed Diawara: B
The instruments are plain. The 51st total choose within the 2025 NBA Draft remains to be uncooked, however his defensive upside jumps off the display screen. Diawara already appears to be like the a part of a disruptive, switchable ahead, and at 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and a 9-foot-2 standing attain, he’s constructed to hassle anybody in his zip code.
The swing ability would be the jumper. Diawara is hitting 33.3 % of his threes in Yr 1—ok to maintain defenses trustworthy, not but ok to demand respect. If that shot stabilizes, the minutes will observe. Defensive versatility has a approach of discovering the ground.
Ariel Hukporti: A
Buried behind Karl-Anthony Cities, Mitchell Robinson and Guerschon Yabusele, Hukporti isn’t assured minutes on a staff with title ambitions. However when he performs, he appears to be like prepared.
The second-year middle has introduced toughness and physicality this staff sometimes lacked a season in the past, flashing the identical edge he confirmed earlier than a meniscus harm lower his rookie marketing campaign quick. He’s again, stronger, and extra assured. With Robinson working below a good load-management protocol, Hukporti’s position may quietly develop—and he’s performed nothing to counsel he isn’t prepared for it.
Tyler Kolek: B+
Malcolm Brogdon’s abrupt retirement left an actual gap at backup level guard. Kolek has helped plug it.
He’s sharper defensively than he was as a rookie—an essential growth provided that protection was the primary cause his minutes have been restricted final season. Like Hukporti, Kolek isn’t anticipated to play large minutes behind the captain. His job is straightforward: maintain the offense organized, keep away from errors, and compete defensively. He’s performed that.
The swing ability right here can also be taking pictures. Kolek remains to be beneath 30 % from three in Yr 2, and that has to enhance. However the progress elsewhere is actual.
Guerschon Yabusele: C+
Context issues right here.
The Knicks didn’t signal Yabusele to a minimal deal. They used most of their mid-level exception—two years, simply over $11 million—to convey him in. And but his position hasn’t matched the funding.
Yabusele is averaging fewer than 10 minutes per recreation and is taking pictures a career-worst proportion from three in a restricted position. The flexibility is interesting, however the influence hasn’t matched the chance. There’s time for that to vary—however to date, the return has been modest.
Jordan Clarkson: B+
The shot choice took some getting used to. At instances it echoed Cameron Payne’s 2024-25 stint. However Clarkson is clearly an improve—and a savvy one on the minimal.
The previous Sixth Man of the Yr brings dimension, expertise, and simply sufficient defensive versatility to outlive. Extra importantly, he’s addressed the Knicks’ most obvious weak spot from a 12 months in the past: bench scoring.
New York remains to be bottom-five in second-unit manufacturing, nevertheless it’s averaging 10 extra factors per recreation off the bench. Coincidentally, Clarkson is averaging almost that quantity himself.
Mitchell Robinson: B+
Free throws. Free throws. And extra free throws.
Robinson stays a game-changer. He’s an elite rebounder and a rim presence that alters possessions the second he steps on the ground. However his incapability to transform on the line—profession 51 %, career-worst 40 % this season—creates an actual late-game dilemma.
Groups will foul him deliberately. It disrupts rhythm. It limits his minutes in high-leverage moments. That’s an issue for a participant this impactful, particularly along with his contract standing looming as he approaches unrestricted free company subsequent summer season.
Miles McBride: A+
No participant has benefitted extra from Brown’s system than McBride.
He’s posting profession highs throughout the board: scoring, three-point quantity, effectivity. The arrogance was at all times there. Now the manufacturing matches it. And crucially, the offensive leap hasn’t come on the expense of his point-of-attack protection.
McBride owns the Knicks’ second-best internet ranking this season behind OG Anunoby. That’s not noise. That’s influence.
Josh Hart: A+
The season turned when Hart entered the beginning lineup.
Brown’s determination restored the Knicks’ connective tissue to a high-usage position, and the impact was instant. Hart is the staff’s engine—a nightly triple-double risk who rebounds like a giant and defends like a pest.
The revived three-point shot is gravy. If it holds by means of the postseason, it adjustments the whole lot about this offense.
Mikal Bridges: A
What an offseason can do for a participant on this league.
This model of Bridges appears to be like freer—on each ends. He’s nonetheless defending elite scorers, however he’s sharing that burden. He’s touching the ball extra as a secondary playmaker, easing strain off Brunson. And he’s grown right into a vocal chief, holding teammates accountable in actual time.
The scoring is down. The influence is up. That’s a commerce each contender makes.
OG Anunoby: A
The contract says all of it—and the numbers again it up.
Anunoby stays the Knicks’ most impactful participant by internet ranking, simply as he’s been since arriving in December 2023. He appears to be like comfy in Brown’s offense and is having fun with the primary 40-percent three-point taking pictures season of his profession.
If he stays wholesome and the Knicks keep close to the highest of the East, his first All-Star case gained’t be laborious to make.
Karl-Anthony Cities: B+
The taking pictures numbers are down. The three-point proportion is the worst of his profession. And but, Cities remains to be the second-best participant on a staff tightening its grip on the East.
His protection has improved—he’s nearer to a block per recreation than he’s been in years. And when he chooses to be aggressive, he stays one of the unguardable facilities in basketball, stretching defenses past their breaking level.
Cities has confronted the steepest studying curve in Brown’s system. He’s climbing it. When it clicks absolutely, this offense ranges up.
Jalen Brunson: A
One second much less per contact doesn’t sound like a lot—till you understand Brunson averages greater than 90 touches per recreation.
That’s vitality redistributed. Rhythm created. Confidence shared.
Brunson’s scoring is up regardless of fewer minutes and fewer dribbles. The shot high quality is best. The reads are faster. And when the second calls for it, he can nonetheless bend the sport to his will.
He obtained 27 mayoral votes for a cause. And he’s nearer to delivering on a promise than most politicians ever get.
Mike Brown: A
If there’s one nit to select, Brown would choose it himself: Josh Hart most likely ought to’ve began sooner.
However accidents sophisticated that call early. When Brown lastly made the change, the Knicks took off. Extra importantly, the second captured why the group trusted him within the first place—he listened.
The philosophical shifts on each ends have labored. The tradition feels completely different. The ceiling feels greater.
If the Knicks maintain this tempo, end-of-season awards gained’t be restricted to the locker room.
