Knicks Offseason Preview: Decisions Loom as New York Tries to Repeat

The Knicks are NBA champions. That’s a sentence that hasn’t been written in 53 years, but the “maybe next year” squad got it done in 2026. While the franchise and its fans are delirious with celebratory bliss, the page will need to be turned quickly because there is work to be done this summer.

New York went on a historic run in the playoffs that included ripping off 13 straight victories en route to a 4–1 series win over the Spurs in the NBA Finals. Once the team got rolling, it was an unstoppable force. The balance on the roster was truly something to behold. While Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were the centerpieces, the two-way play of OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges and the tough, scrappy defense and rebounding of Josh Hart complemented them beautifully. The good news for the Knicks is that all five players are under contract for next season, while Towns and Hart have options for the 2027–28 campaign as well. The core is intact for now.

Key bench players like Jose Alvarado and Miles McBride are likely back next season, while there are a number who will hit free agency and either need to be re-signed or replaced. That will be difficult given the massive deals already on New York’s books.

What follows is a look back at the Knicks’ season and a preview of what comes next this offseason.

Season grade: A+

New York had an outstanding regular season, finishing with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference and sixth-best in the NBA at 53–29. The Knicks got lucky in their path to the Finals, as both the No. 1-seeded Pistons and No. 2-seeded Celtics bowed out before they had to face them. The No. 1 overall seeded Thunder also fell to the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, which certainly helped matters.

While they weren’t the NBA’s top team during the regular season, the Knicks were absolutely the best squad in the playoffs. During the postseason, they ranked first in offensive rating (120.7) and defensive rating (104.7), and their net rating (16.0) was nearly double that of the second-place Spurs (8.6). They also led all NBA teams in three-point percentage (39.5%) and effective field goal percentage (57.4%) in the playoffs.

At the heart of what drove the Knicks was a balanced lineup that could get it done on both ends. During the regular season, they were fourth in offensive rating (118.7) and seventh in defensive rating (112.3). That two-way mentality only ratcheted up in the postseason.

The team’s balance extended to scoring as well. The Knicks had six players who averaged double figures during the regular season, while Landry Shamet (9.3 ppg) and Jordan Clarkson (8.6 ppg) weren’t far off. Deuce McBride had a breakout season off the bench, averaging 12.0 points. Everyone who touched the floor for New York could contribute in multiple ways, and each rotation player held plenty of value.

The Knicks made a bold move at the end of the 2024–25 season when they decided to fire Tom Thibodeau after three straight playoff appearances and a berth in the conference finals. The team targeted several employed coaches like Jason Kidd, Quin Snyder, Billy Donovan, Taylor Jenkins and Ime Udoka, but eventually settled on Mike Brown, who has long been undervalued.

Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year (2009, ’23) who had plenty of success on his résumé but had never led his own team to an NBA title. He won a championship as an assistant with the Spurs in ’03. Then won three as associate head coach of the Warriors from 2016 to ’22, including in ’17 when he took over as acting head coach in the postseason while Steve Kerr was dealing with chronic back pain. He led Golden State to a 12–0 record with Kerr out.

The move to hire Brown puzzled many. Why let Thibodeau go just to hire a retread who had never won the big one? Clearly most observers were wrong. Brown’s positive, steady presence and defense-first approach is just what the Knicks needed. The culture he built with this team has carried it. Even when New York has faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles, the team has thrived. Never was that more true than in Game 4 of the Finals when the Knicks trailed by 29 points midway through the third quarter and wound up winning.

Brown deserves heaps of credit for how he navigated this season and how his squad turned things up in the postseason. He got his players to peak at the right time, and they responded.

It was a phenomenal season in New York. The Knicks deserve the highest grade possible.

Knicks 2026 free agents

The Knicks have some key rotation players they have to make decisions on, including Mitchell Robinson who is expected to draw interest from around the league, as he’ll be one of the best free agent centers on the market. New York will want him back but the price may be driven too high.

Bench scorers Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet join Robinson as unrestricted free agents, while backup big Jeremy Sochan will also be free to leave. Jose Alvarado has a player option for $4.5 million. Another backup big, Ariel Hukporti is a restricted free agent.

It will be interesting to see what decisions the Knicks make, given that without cap holds their projected payroll already tops $205.5 million for next season. That puts them about $3.5 million under the first apron. The team will be working with tight margins this offseason.

Unrestricted free agents

Mitchell Robinson
Landry Shamet
Jordan Clarkson
Jeremy Sochan

Player options

Jose Alvarado

Restricted free agents

Ariel Hukporti
Mohamed Diawara
Trey Jemison (two-way)
Dillon Jones (two-way)
Kevin McCullar Jr. (two-way)

Draft assets

New York currently has the 24th pick in the first round. Given that this is projected to be a deep draft, that should produce a solid rotation player.

The Knicks also own the 31st pick in the draft thanks to a 2022 trade that send the draft rights to Ousmane Dieng to the Thunder in exchange for a two ’23 protected first-rounders that originally belonged to the Nuggets and Pistons, this pick, and a ’27 second-rounder that originally belonged to the Wizards.

They will also have the 55th pick this year.

Karl-Anthony Towns extension decision looms

Towns is 30 and isn’t what he once was physically. That said, he may have ended the season playing the best basketball of his career. He averaged a career-low 20.1 points per game this season and his three-point percentage dropped from 42.0% last season so 36.8% this year. Despite those steps back, he was second in the NBA in rebounds (11.9 per game), averaged 3.0 assists per game and was even better in the playoffs.

Again, in the playoffs Towns’s scoring average dopped to 16.7 per game, but the Knicks took off on their 13-game unbeaten run when they began using him as a distributor. He averaged 5.2 assists during the playoffs, while still grabbing 10.6 rebounds per game and increasing his defensive contributions to 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. He also did a solid job defending Victor Wembanyama in the Finals.

His numbers may have come down but, if anything, his value increased in the postseason.

Towns will make $57.1 million next season, and holds a player option at $61 million for the 2027–28 campaign. He’s eligible for a three-year extension this offseason, or a four-year deal if he declines the ’27–28 option. It’s hard to see the Knicks not giving it to him after the team’s run to a title.

It will be an expensive deal and will come as he likely begins to decline, but after winning a championship, not giving him a deal might create the kind of bad feelings that could derail a title run next season.

What the Knicks decide to do with Towns will impact all future decisions. It’s the biggest piece of business this offseason, along with finding ways to add to the margins as several key players could depart. Barring a major trade, it will be almost impossible to stay under the first apron and they could jump over the second in an attempt to chase another title.

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