The Knicks won 51 games last season, earning them the third seed in the Eastern Conference. This season, despite upgrading their bench, fans should expect a lower win total in the regular season. While that may sound disappointing, the rationale should be encouraging: the starters will be playing less.
New York achieved those 51 wins on the backs of their starters, a unit that played 940 total minutes together. The Knicks had three separate players rank in the top 10 in terms of minutes played. They also had some noteworthy injury luck, as Jalen Brunson was the only starter who missed significant time, with every other starter appearing in over 70 games.
This season, things should be different under Mike Brown
Mike Brown has already made it clear that he intends to deepen the rotation, playing nine or 10 players consistently. To be fair to Tom Thibodeau, Brown has a deeper bench after the Knicks added Jordan Clarkson, Guerschon Yabusele, and Malcolm Brogdon this offseason. The Knicks also enter the season with a healthy Mitchell Robinson, something that they did not have last year.
Brown is going to prioritize utilizing the depth that he has at his disposal to get the Knicks to the playoffs in one piece. Fans can debate all day long if the extensive minutes Thibodeau played his starters cost them in the playoffs. Whatever side of the fence you land on, the players have admitted they were gassed in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Regardless of how you feel, sacrificing a handful of regular season wins to keep their best player's legs fresh when things really matter in the playoffs is the smart move.
Adjusting to Brown's system
The other component that may cause a dip in regular season wins from last year is the fact that the Knicks need to learn a new offensive system, one that they have publicly admitted is going to take some time to adjust to.
Brown wants the Knicks to play faster, make quicker decisions, and change up the roles that Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns had last year. The changes aren't dramatic, such as getting Brunson more off-ball looks and using Towns as a passing hub more often.
That said, there will be a learning curve. The faster pace could lead to some sloppy play in the beginning. Fewer on-ball Brunson reps could mean fewer chances for him to bail out bad offense. At the end of the day, all of these changes are aimed at making a difference when wins really start to matter, in the playoffs.