Mike Brown promised he would experiment more aggressively with lineups and player development if and when the New York Knicks ever got their act together. Well, they certainly got their act together in their butt-kicking of the Chicago Bulls.
True to his word, Brown emptied the bench, and road-tested a bunch of different combinations. The Knicks’ immediate outlook is already better because of it.
Their long-term trajectory might even be, too.
Everybody eats when the Knicks aren’t battling from behind
Though New York has three other victories in its rear view, including another one at Chicago’s expense, none of them were particularly decisive. The Knicks trailed the Jalen Duren-less Detroit Pistons by double digits before staging a comeback. They rallied back from down 19 in their first win against the Bulls. A third quarter from you-know-what almost steered them into disaster versus the Brooklyn Nets.
Uncertainty was never an issue in their second win over the Bulls. The Knicks led by as many as 44 points. That gave Brown the cushion he needed to play all 14 active players on the bench—Pacome Dadiet included.
More importantly, though, he didn’t reach deep into the rotation only when the game was over. Mohamed Diawara got first-half minutes. Ditto for Dalton Knecht. The same goes for Tyler Kolek. The latter is an increasingly common occurrence, but it remains noteworthy when Jose Alvarado, Miles McBride, and Jordan Clarkson are all available.
If anything, Kolek’s re-entry into the rotation is proof of concept. Getting him minutes has given Brown enough intel to, at least for the time being, put him ahead of Alvarado. The Grand Theft dynamo didn’t see court time until midway through the fourth quarter.
Better still, Brown fielded a bunch of different lineups the Knicks have never tried before. Once again, this wasn’t just a garbage-time luxury. He rolled out a fivesome of Diawara, Kolek, Clarkson, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns in the second quarter. Later on, he subbed in Knecht for Bridges and Drummond for KAT as part of a different look.
Whether any of these become semi-staples is, for now, irrelevant. Merely trying them arms the Knicks with more information about this roster.
The Knicks are going to reap the rewards of decisive wins
We haven’t even gotten to the biggest benefit of drama-less victories: diminished pressure on the starters. Josh Hart missed the Bulls game with an ankle issue, but KAT, Bridges, OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson, and Landry Shamet (Hart’s replacement) all logged comfortably under 30 minutes.
Every iota of rest New York can buy following two mega-deep playoff runs is a big deal. But it doesn’t need to constantly build 40-plus-point leads to make it happen. The Knicks just need enough of a cushion, both in the box score and the standings, to create a margin for error that allows Mikey B to get weird.
Increasing reps for Diawara lets New York see whether it should acquire another fourth wing in advance of the playoffs. It gives Kolek more runway to run the offense. It invites the Knicks to see whether Knecht can be their next Landry Shamet success story. When they do deliver caps-lock BLOWOUTS, it’s an opportunity to see whether Dadiet or James Wiseman has any juice they can squeeze.
This isn’t just data collection that will inform how the front office acts at the deadline. It’s intel the Knicks can use to keep fleshing out the rotation this season, next year, and beyond.
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