Just in case you need another reminder that the New York Knicks are placing a lot of faith in Mike Brown to get them over the championship hump, the folks over at ESPN have one hot off the press.
A panel of NBA insiders was asked to predict who will win Coach of the Year for the 2025-26 season. New York’s freshly hired head honcho finished fourth, and was a heartbeat away from second place. Here are the full results:
- Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic (48 points)
- Quin Snyder, Atlanta Hawks (24 points)
- Ime Udoka, Houston Rockets (22 points)
- Mike Brown, New York Knicks (21 points)
- Mitch Johnson, San Antonio Spurs (16 points)
This list tracks with historical Coach of the Year trends. Voters gravitate towards clipboard-carriers overseeing a much-improved roster, or new faces assuming control of a good team looking to become a great team.
Brown falls under the latter category. The Knicks are hoping he is to them what Kenny Atkinson was to the Cleveland Cavaliers last season.
Mike Brown is the Knicks’ most important addition
For all the excitement over signing Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson, Brown is by far New York’s most important addition. The meat and potatoes of last year’s roster remain. The top-seven players in the rotation have not changed. No big trades have been made.
Firing Tom Thibodeau was an admission from the Leon Rose-led front office that it believes a championship core is already in place. It just needs the right coach to oversee it—to optimize it.
New York has tapped Brown to be that steward. And the mission he’s undertaking is not a small one. The Knicks need him to solve a host of problems, and unlock a bunch of different doors.
It will be on Brown to perfect the lagging dynamic between Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns. It will be on him to modify and modernize an offense that was barely league average after January 1. He is the one who must find time to develop prospects like Tyler Kolek, Pacome Dadiet, and Ariel Hukporti—without compromising the Knicks’ title aspirations.
Brown is the one who must settle on a starting five, and hope that it’s the right one. From there, he must decide how much time Towns needs to spend alongside Mitchell Robinson, or another big. He’ll also need to weigh how integral Josh Hart is to the rotation, whether he starts or comes off the bench, for a team that needs to lean five-out as much as it can.
The Knicks better hope ESPN is wrong
This list of responsibilities goes on, and on. And on. Which is why the Knicks likely need Brown to finish higher than fourth on the Coach of the Year ballot for this season to be considered a success.
New York is decidedly in Finals-or-bust territory. Progress isn’t always linear, but if it doesn’t have the look and feel of a team better suited to win at least three playoff series, the decision to fire Thibs and replace him with Brown will be re-litigated to no end.
It doesn’t matter whether this is fair. Frankly, it isn’t fair. Not to Brown. But those are the stakes, for both better and worse. And if Brown resolves enough of the Knicks’ issues from last season and the Thibs era at large, he won’t just prominently feature in the Coach of the Year discussion.
He stands to win it.