Firing Tom Thibodeau is a defensible move by the New York Knicks. Adaptability is more important than ever in today’s NBA, and for as much as he’s grown, the 67-year-old head coach remains lacking in that department.
The Knicks are nevertheless kidding themselves if they believe pink-slipping Thibs qualifies as some radical panacea. He may have been a problem. He was not the problem. Their biggest issue, in fact, is something likely no head coach can fix: a roster that isn’t deep enough.
The Knicks need to add depth for their next head coach to succeed
Criticisms of Thibs’ rotations are well-warranted. Even at his most flexible, he leaned on his starters more than any other head coach.
Entering the 2025 NBA Finals, four of the Knicks’ five starters rank in the top 10 of total minutes played through the regular season and playoffs. Jalen Brunson is the lone exclusion, because he missed 17 games. And even he ranks 16th.
You know things are bad when Mikal Bridges, the Association’s foremost Iron Man, publicly calls out the playing-time workload. Thibs could have done more to alleviate the burden placed upon his most important guys.
At the same time, where exactly was he supposed to turn? New York’s bench was populated almost exclusively by wildly imperfect veterans and unproven youngsters. Until March, when Mitchell Robinson made his season debut following offseason ankle surgery, the Knicks employed roughly six reliable players: Brunson, Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart and Deuce McBride.
Robinson’s return only stretched that body count to seven, and he’s never really shouldered even a moderate-sized minutes load. And as we saw during the playoffs, the top of the rotation isn’t exactly teeming with dependability.
McBride ran cold from the end of the regular season into the postseason. Bridges and Towns are among the most inconsistent offensive “stars” in the league. Hart is a wild card. Anunoby made real offensive strides, particularly during Brunson’s absence, but often faded into the background.
The problem with the Knicks’ depth nobody is talking about
Thibs could have done more to emphasize player development, or to give additional reps to someone like Shamet. But Shamet had a shoulder injury himself, and it’s tough to prioritize development and rest when you’re a should-be contender without much margin for error.
Despite winning 51 games, the Knicks ranked 24th during the regular season in the amount of low- and medium-leverage minutes played. These are effectively the minutes that have the least influence over the outcome of games, and are therefore stretches in which you can steal breathers for starters and prioritize development.
So while Thibs didn’t do enough to address the problem, he is hardly the cause of it. The Knicks lacked both the resources and the opportunity to meaningfully extend the rotation.
New York must get deeper, otherwise a new coach will fix very little
Installing a new head coach might gussy up the offense. Someone else can surely extract more out of the Brunson-KAT duo, which devolved into a wildly underwhelming partnership by season’s end.
But a new coach cannot extend the rotation if it’s left alone. This Knicks team requires changes. They don’t have to be nuclear—though the absence of a consistent No. 2 option is a big deal—but this roster can’t look the same.
Whether New York’s front office has the tools to add depth is debatable. The Knicks have zero first-round picks to trade, and won’t be able to spend more than the $5.7 million mini mid-level exception in free agency.
Acquiring any real upgrades may require shipping out one of their six best players in favor of multiple rotation pieces. That, or the Knicks must hope to strike gold with the mini MLE and minimums. If they don’t, firing Thibs will almost assuredly look like a move done in vain.