Mike Brown tasked with taking Knicks' baton final laps to NBA title
Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown reacts towards his bench during a game against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half at Golden 1 Center on Dec. 19, 2024, in Sacramento, Calif. Credit: Getty Images
It’s been five years since the Knicks introduced a new head coach. But this one feels very different from the last one.
Five years ago, it was on a zoom call that the Knicks front office introduced Tom Thibodeau, the hand-picked leader tasked with turning around the franchise. Now, it is Mike Brown in person, announced in a statement with praise from the team president and the Madison Square Garden Chairman. And most of all, the job is far different — taking a championship-contending team and needing to take it to those final steps to justify the change.
In Brown the Knicks got a proven commodity, not a neophyte or some hot young assistant. That is a reassuring start even before the first welcome or thank you is uttered Tuesday. It is why when oddsmakers released the initial win total numbers for next season the Knicks were the lone team to have the same exact prediction as they did last season — 52.5.
Not a lot of vacancies are filled with this sort of situation, an experienced head coach, a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, stepping into a team that reached the conference final and returns every key piece from last season. And they already have filled in some of the blanks, adding a potent scorer off the bench and a versatile backup big man.
But that doesn’t mean the job is easy. The four-year contract that Brown got from the Knicks isn’t for a window to remake a team. Brown’s expectations start on Day One. Actually it starts with the news conference as he replaces Thibodeau who was fired after failing to reach the NBA Finals.
“After a thorough and extensive search process, we are pleased to announce Mike Brown as the head coach of the New York Knicks,” Knicks president Leon Rose said in a statement. “Mike has coached on the biggest stages in our sport and brings championship pedigree to our organization. His experience leading the bench during the NBA Finals, winning four titles as an assistant coach, and his ability to grow and develop players will all help us as we aim to bring a championship to New York for our fans.”
“I would like to welcome Mike Brown to New York and the Knicks organization,” Garden chairman James Dolan said in the statement. “Leon and our staff ran a thorough and thoughtful process that led our organization to Mike, and I’m pleased to see him on the sideline for us next season.”
Roster math
The Knicks officially announced the signings of Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson, bolstering and deepening the bench. To sign Yabusele the Knicks used the taxpayer midlevel exemption, but did not use the full $5.686 million for this season which could have gotten him $12 million over two season. The team instead signed him to a two-year contract (with a player option for the second year) that starts at $5.5 million this season.
With Clarkson’s $3.6 million deal after the buyout by Utah, the Knicks have $3.7 million available below the second apron (which they are hard-capped at, triggered by using the taxpayer midlevel exemption), which will allow them to sign one more veteran minimum deal, in addition to a second-round exception (possibly Mohamed Diawara or James Nnaji).
Vegas roster
The Knicks announced the roster for the Las Vegas Summer League which will be coached by holdover assistant coach Jordan Brink. It is highlighted by four of last year’s rookies — Tyler Kolek, Pacome Dadiet, Ariel Hukporti and Kevin McCullar — as well as this year’s second-round pick, Mohamed Diawara. Recently acquired Dink Pate and James Nnaji and last year’s acquisitions Marjon Beauchamp and Anton Watson are also on the squad.
The Knicks are also including a number of players from overseas — Luka Skuka, a 6-10 forward from Slovenia, Biwali Bayles, a 6-1 guard from Australia and Yudai Baba, a 6-5 guard from Japan, who was with the Texas Legends of the G League for multiple seasons. Devone Grant, a 6-2 guard also spent last season playing overseas in Spain.
And they also brought in some closer-to-home prospects — Lance Ware, a 6-10 forward who played high school briefly under Rick Brunson and then played college ball for Villanova, Kentucky and University of Texas-Arlington, and Nick Jourdain, a 6-8 forward who played at Montclair High School in New Jersey before playing for Memphis in college.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
