5 Takeaways From a Magical (and Promising) Knicks Season

By the end of their season-ending 130-109 drubbing in game seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, the New York Knicks looked a little like Wile E. Coyote after a full episode of failed attempts to take out the Road Runner: limping out on crutches, both eyes blackened and X’d out, nose broken and squeaking like an accordion with little birdies flapping around their heads. The Knicks made a valiant effort against the Indiana Pacers (who seemingly made every jump-shot they attempted) but could only do so much given the injuries that had spread throughout the team like a virus over the year, afflicting Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Josh Hart. Jalen Brunson’s broken left wrist in the third quarter was the final straw: If the series had gone one more quarter, the Knicks would have been so shorthanded they might have let you or me play.

This was a truly inspiring season, one of the most thrilling in New York sports over the last 20 years. But now Knicks fans, floating on air for a fortnight, must deal with the indignity of watching the hated Pacers play the hated Celtics for the right to reach the NBA Finals. And yet this doesn’t feel like the end of something but the beginning of an extended run of Knicks success. With that in mind, here are five major takeaways from this 2023–24 season with an eye toward what the Knicks might do moving forward to make sure that next year, they’re the Road Runner.

The biggest thing that happened this season, and maybe the biggest thing that has happened to the Knicks in decades, is that Jalen Brunson established himself as the sort of superstar you build an entire team around. The guy the Knicks signed for a four-year, $104 million contract two summers ago — a contract that was ridiculed by many for being too pricey and perhaps unduly influenced by Brunson’s father, Rick, being a Knicks coach — now looks like a monumental bargain: I think he might be the biggest New York City sports superstar at this moment since I started writing for this magazine 16 years ago. (After all, Mets fans hated Jeter. Everybody loves Jalen.) Brunson was so good this year that the Knicks tended to rely on him a little too much, asking him to essentially serve as the entire offense and sole shot creator. (This was particularly true in the playoffs.) The return of Randle next year should help ease the burden, but Brunson clearly needs more assistance offensively, lest his body break down under the strain. One thing is abundantly clear, though: After decades of desperately trying to find a signature star, the Knicks have done it.

Two key Knicks are free agents this offseason: OG Anunoby and Isaiah Hartenstein. While recognizing that the intricacies and limitations of the NBA salary cap can force teams to make some difficult decisions, the Knicks really can’t afford to lose either one of them. They were a stunning 26-5 with Anunoby in the lineup after trading for him in late December, at which point he showed himself to be a defensive dynamo who could shut down any opposing player and provide scoring punch when needed. His price tag will be exorbitant — potentially more than $40 million a year — but it’s difficult to see the Knicks not paying, even allowing for his injury history; any team would give him that much if it could, and the Knicks can outbid everyone else because he’s on their current roster.

The situation is a bit different with Hartenstein. The seven-footer was an offensive rebounding monster in the playoffs, is clearly beloved by his teammates, and is a perfect fit with this team generally. The problem is that his expected salary could reach $14 million, which is a fair market price but also a lot for a player who is really a backup center when Mitchell Robinson is healthy. (Particularly given the presence of a much cheaper Precious Achiuwa on the roster.) The Knicks have been very smart about the contracts they have given out; are they willing to pay a tenth of the salary cap (and potentially push into luxury-tax penalties) for a backup center? No matter what, this whole team is about to get more expensive: Even Brunson is up for a raise and an extension after another year. Sure, it’s James Dolan’s money. But he won’t be distracted by the Sphere forever. Bringing this team back isn’t necessarily as simple as it looks.

Critics hurled a few accusations at Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau in the postseason — foremost among them that all the team’s injuries happened because Thibodeau pushed them too hard, which I think is unfair. It’s more accurate to say this team took on its coach’s personality: Hard-nosed, relentless, absurdly, almost sociopathically, focused. Thibodeau’s contract runs out after next season, and it would be highly unusual for him to go into that final year as a lame-duck coach; he is likely to be extended at more than $10 million a year.

Thibodeau has been run out of jobs in Chicago and Minnesota, where it should be said that he did leave his players exhausted by the end of his tenure. He has almost been fired a few times by the Knicks already. And the fact remains that coaches are a lot easier to get rid of than players are — this is the NBA, not college basketball. The Knicks have to keep the Thibs vibe going now, but if it begins to grate like it has at other stops, well, the Knicks gig is a lot more desirable than it used to be, and finding a good candidate to lead the team wouldn’t be too difficult. Thibodeau is a great coach. He works magnificently with this team. He should be the coach next year and likely many years into the future. But he is, after all, just a coach.

Julius Randle is a polarizing figure throughout the NBA. He’s a three-time All-Star and reliable, even inevitable scorer: He can create his shot like few other big men in the league, which is exactly the skill that Brunson needs to complement his game. Randle also has a habit of fading dramatically in the playoffs and is only two years removed from a listless 2021–22 season, just after he signed a big extension. That extension both hurts and helps: He may be overpaid, but his salary is high enough that if a bigger star ever does become available — as the Knicks have been waiting to happen the entire Leon Rose era — he can provide the salary match in any sort of trade. Knicks fans have grown to love him. But they’d ship him out for that next true star in a second. As they should.

The Knicks should have made the Conference Finals this year. But if they return next season with a healthy roster, they will be widely perceived as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference. (ESPN’s Zack Lowe said on his podcast this week he believes, fully healthy, they’re the second-best team in the East, better than both the 76ers and the Bucks.) The best part about all this is that they’re good right now and still set up for the future as well as nearly any other team in the league. They have all their draft picks. They have cap room. They have tradable assets if a star shakes loose. They have a front office that is — remarkably, considering this is the Knicks — among the most respected in the sport. And they have a fan base that, as we saw all season, is so giddy and wild for their Knicks, so desperate for a championship — it has been more than 50 years now — that they’ve made the franchise more desirable for NBA stars leaguewide. (Put it this way: No way Kevin Durant would pick the Nets now.) The Knicks have been smart, prudent, and resourceful for the first time in decades. Fans are now, at least, reaping the rewards. This was a tough way for the season to end. But the Knicks are just getting warmed up.