Mike Brown has the New York Knicks doing something fans could only fantasize about until now: winning a bunch of basketball games, and developing young talent at the same time.
This is not a drill. It is not a prank. You have not entered the Twilight Zone. Well, okay, maybe you have. I can’t be sure.
Regardless, this is actually happening. Brown is striking a balance between the known and the unknown, without sacrificing New York’s place in the standings.
Some of his reliance on the team’s youth is forced. He doesn’t start rookie Mohamed Diawara in Atlanta on Saturday night if Josh Hart doesn’t get injured, and if the Knicks aren’t woefully thin on reserve wings.
Then again, this is a perfect encapsulation of Brown’s approach. He is willing to roll the dice. He could have started Mitchell Robinson alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. He could have leaned into the dual-point guard look, and gone with Jordan Clarkson. He could have even gone with Tyler Kolek, yet another young player getting a chance to prove his mettle.
Brown went with Diawara instead. And sprinkled in some—*checks notes*—Kevin McCullar Jr. for good measure. The Knicks, for their part, are going to be much better because of it.
Mike Brown is emphasizing player development
Though there have been games and stretches in which Brown depends heavily on his vets, he is getting progressively more willing to dust off the kiddos. Injuries to players like Hart, Landry Shamet, and Deuce McBride have to some extent forced his hand. But so many other coaches—including his predecessor—are more inclined to shorten their rotation in the face of critical absences.
Emphasizing depth and the developmental opportunities that come with it are currently winning out for New York. Kolek has already eclipsed his entire minutes total from last year, and entrenched himself as a long-term keeper on the back of that opportunity. After his start against the Hawks, Diawara has logged more rookie-year minutes through the Knicks’ first 31 games than Pacome Dadiet did all of last season.
Handing minutes to McCullar, who’s on a two-way contract, certainly isn’t expected, or an obligation. Until Saturday’s win over the Hawks, he wasn’t even on the radar. And yet, he racked up almost as many minutes versus Atlanta as he did all of last year. Both he and Kolek received crunch-time use.
Even Ariel Hukporti is getting more burn this season. It’s not just when Mitchell Robinson is out of the lineup, either. Hukporti has pretty comfortably leap-frogged Guerschon Yabusele, New York’s crown-jewel-signing-gone wrong, in the rotation.
The Knicks’ present and future are brighter thanks to Brown’s approach
It can be easy to underestimate or dismiss the reps youngsters are getting in real time. Rest assured, though, Brown’s approach (thus far) is going to pay massive dividends.
Heck, it already is paying massive dividends. Kolek doesn’t transform into this season’s most pleasant surprise without Brown giving him opportunities Tom Thibodeau never did, and other head coaches never would.
Not every developmental project will be a home run. But that’s the point. The Knicks need to know what they have in their youth, for both better and worse. It helps inform how they go about building their team, not to mention valuing players in trades, moving forward.
In this way, the misses are just as instructive as the hits. And when the Knicks do hit, it’s absolutely massive.
Unearthing cost-controlled contributors will be critical to navigating the future. New York is almost assuredly going to enter the second apron next year, if not the season after. The restrictions placed upon roster-building at that level are real.
Preserving cores and extending title windows now more than ever requires identifying and developing affordable talent. It’s an incredibly delicate and difficult balancing act. The Knicks under Mike Brown appear up for it.