Though Mike Brown departed from Tom Thibodeau's polarizing minutes strategy, the New York Knicks' starters have played more than most in recent years. That includes the fact that the Knicks not only won the championship in 2026, but reached the Conference Finals in 2025.
With two straight deep playoff runs and a mountain of minutes played weighing on the starters, reserve guard Jordan Clarkson could be the key to saving the big names from exhaustion.
New York's starters all averaged at least 35.0 minutes per game during the 2024-25 regular season. They each eclipsed 30.2 in 2025-26. The starters then went on to each play at least 35.5 minutes per contest during the 2025 playoffs and 30.4 during the 2026 postseason.
Considering the Knicks played 18 playoff games in 2025 and 19 in 2026, there's no shortage of wear-and-tear already endured by a starting lineup that includes four players who are 30 or older.
Though all-out intensity on defense from the reserves would likely have the greatest impact on the starters pacing themselves through the regular season, offense still matters. That applies no more directly than to reigning Finals MVP and leading scorer Jalen Brunson.
For the Knicks to take pressure off of Brunson, generating consistent offense from the second unit could be the most important step to take. Thankfully, Clarkson has the tools to help in that regard.
Knicks need to take pressure off of starters after deep playoff runs
Clarkson is a former Sixth Man of the Year who averaged 20.2 points per game as recently as 2023-24. In saying that, he's also 34 years of age and played just 37 games the last time he was asked to attempt at least 10.0 field goals per contest.
Thankfully for New York, he's still a dynamic scorer who averaged 17.5 points per 36 minutes during his first season with the team in 2025-26.
If Clarkson can maintain that type of production while proving to excel in a slightly more prominent role, the Knicks' second unit could be a key strength. If he can't, however, then the backcourt may struggle to support Brunson in the scoring arena.
New York admittedly has strong depth at guard, but shot creation isn't exactly a definitive strength amongst the likes of Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride, and Landry Shamet.
Knicks' second unit has struggled to generate offense
The development that could take Clarkson's impact over the top is if he returns to a high degree of volume as a playmaker. Between 2022-23 and 2024-25, for instance, he averaged 5.3 assists per 36 minutes. In 2025-26, however, he managed just 2.7.
That may have more to do with role than ability, but it doesn't change how valuable it would be to have another relatively high-volume playmaker helping to generate clean looks.
The good news is that the Knicks' bench ranked No. 3 in the NBA in net rating during the 2025-26 regular season. The bad news is that they lost defensive anchor Mitchell Robinson in free agency and ranked No. 27 in offensive rating.
That make Clarkson a prime candidate to lead an offensive resurgence amongst the reserves and give the Knicks the offensive depth they'll need to avoid a championship hangover.
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