As we celebrate New Year’s Eve and the turn of the calendar from 2024 to 2025, let’s take stock on what we learned following a riveting year of New York Knicks basketball.
As we celebrate New Year’s Eve and the turn of the calendar from 2024 to 2025, let’s take stock on what we learned following a riveting year of Knicks basketball.
Jalen Brunson is a bonafide superstar
It wasn’t long into 2024 when Brunson’s breakout second season with the Knicks went under the national media microscope, with Becky Hammon questioning whether he is a true “1A” player who can lead a championship team. Despite an avalanche of injuries to his teammates and a massive roster upheaval, Brunson spent the remainder of the year proving Hammon and other skeptics terribly wrong.
After leading the Knicks to a 50-win, second-seed finish after losing Julius Randle to injury while averaging 30.8 points and 7.3 assists on 48.3 percent shooting from the field and 37.3 percent from three, Brunson followed up with a historically great playoff performance — five straight games of 39+ points, the first player since Michael Jordan to do it and only the fourth player ever, leading New York past the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.
Brunson evolved his game from steady score-first point guard, to on-and-off-ball elite scoring threat, and then again this season to a more involved playmaker. Brunson is currently putting up an efficient 25.5 points and 7.7 assists per game, and has a recent a 55-point performance under his belt.
Miles McBride has one of the best value contracts in the league
Just before the new year, McBride signed a three-year extension for $13 million with the Knicks, who were coming off a trade that nixed their guard depth, with the team wanting to lock in their prospect for the long term. To that point, McBride hadn’t been able to earn consistent NBA minutes despite his hounding defense, as his offense failed to carry over from impressive displays in Westchester.
Boy did New York bet right. McBride took his newfound opportunity and ran with it, averaging 10.7 points on 40.9 percent shooting from three down the stretch of the season, even contributing with some big starts and performances.
He went on to put together huge swings in the playoffs, including a 21-point Game 1 over Philly. This season he’s averaging 9.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists on 40.3 percent shooting from three, keeping up his terrific two-way play off the bench on a deal that now looks like highway robbery.
The Knicks are all-in on winning a championship
The year kicked off with the aftermath of the shocking trade sending RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto in exchange for OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa. Out went two Tom Thibodeau-era mainstays and homegrown picks that included the man who broke the Charlie Ward curse.
The offseason had two more shockers in tow: the Knicks moving virtually all of their draft capital for Mikal Bridges, and a training camp eve blockbuster swapping Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Karl-Anthony Towns. To tally that up, the Knicks shipped out most of their youth, draft assets, and institutional players all in one year to pursue their ultimate goal of a title.
If there’s one takeaway from 2024, it’s that there isn’t an untouchable player, or an unthinkable move not in play if it brings the Knicks closer to a championship.
The entire approach and expectations are radically different from where they were just a few seasons ago, and 2024 was the year that finally flipped that switch.
Leon Rose has earned the benefit of the doubt
Whether this shift to contention and the individual moves that make it up are going to be successful is yet to be determined. But one thing is for sure: the man behind these transactions and this larger rebuild has earned himself the trust of the Knicks fanbase.
On basically all of his big swings, Rose has turned out to be unequivocally right, despite some of the ire he drew in pursuing them. It started with hiring Thibodeau and holding steady with Randle, which immediately returned the Knicks to the playoffs.
After some missteps, he bet on Brunson in free agency and netted New York the young star they’ve dreamed about for years. He then worked to build around him and Thibodeau, nailing the Josh Hart trade and Isaiah Hartenstein signing.
But it was Rose’s active 2024 that proved his leadership the most. The emotional Anunoby trade immediately delivered the best month of Knicks basketball in years, and going all-in for Bridges and Towns has looks increasingly brilliant.
We still have much to learn about this team
Although we’re over a third of the way into the new season, this team still feels brand new, only finding its footing this past month against largely uncompetitive teams. There are plenty of positives (career Towns year, ridiculous team offense) and negatives (inconsistency, lack of identity) to glean so far, but nothing we can bank on as certain for once the playoffs roll around.
That will ultimately be when this team is judged on its merits.
In the meantime, it’s been a fun ride watching them rise up the Eastern Conference standings, and there’s still a long season to go of growing, learning, and enjoying the talents on display with this team.
