By hiring Mike Brown and adding both Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele to the roster, the New York Knicks are making it clear that they’re going all-in on offense, no matter the potential defensive consequences. And while many believe their improvement is a matter of depth and lineup versatility, the lack of chemistry between Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns is actually the more pressing problem.
This team, as currently constructed, will only go as far as its two most important (and talented) offensive players can take them. By the end of last year, though, Brunson and Towns were leading almost completely separate existences. That can’t happen again.
It’s now on Brown to ensure that it won’t.
The Knicks have a huge Jalen Brunson-Karl-Anthonyn Towns problem
New York acquired Towns last summer under the assumption that he and Brunson would forge one of, if not the absolute most dangerous, two-man offensive attack in basketball. Rest assured, there were moments during the 2024-25 season in which they lived up to expectations, appearing equal parts unstoppable and born to play alongside one another.
Those moments were fewer and further between as the season wore on. Opposing defenses started stashing smaller players on Towns rather than guarding him with bigs, and the Knicks offense began deteriorating, often breaking, in the face of less-than-ideal spacing and three-point volume, as well as a lack of ball movement.
Their struggles are most evident when you zero in on the Brunson-Towns dynamic, which actually worsened in the playoffs. Take a look at the share of KAT’s made baskets that Brunson assisted on this past season, broken down by month (March and April have been abbreviated to reflect the time JB missed with an ankle injury):
- October: 22.5 percent
- November: 23.3 percent
- December: 16.8 percent
- January: 22.4 percent
- February: 11.1 percent
- March (three games): 22.2 percent
- April (four games): 9.7 percent
- Playoffs: 14.4 percent
This is an alarmingly low amount of interplay between the Knicks’ two best players when you consider how much time they logged together. And it’s reflected in the larger results from the postseason, when many of the team’s one-star lineups started faring better than joint KAT-and-JB minutes.
Mike Brown could be the solution to the Knicks’ biggest issue
Enter Mike Brown.
The 55-year-old head honcho has extensive experience coming up with creative ways to get his best players involved, and ensuring they’re working in symphony. Brown spent more than a half-decade as an assistant under Steve Kerr with the Golden State Warriors, and it showed with the ball and body movement he implemented during his time with the Sacramento Kings.
During their last full season together in Sacramento (2023-24), Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox threw about 36 passes to one another each game. Skip back to 2022-23, and that number came in at 31.6. And through the 31 games Brown coached the Kings in 2024-25, Fox and Sabonis tossed around 37 passes to one another each night.
Now compare this to the Knicks’ star duo. Brunson and Towns threw roughly 21 passes per game to each other. This number has to go up. And it will.
Brown’s Kings teams moved the rock waaay more than any iteration of Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks. Extra passing may not fix everything, but it’s a start. And when you factor in additional off-ball movement, along with some hand-offs, New York’s Brunson-Towns dynamic may finally become what it was meant to be: not a weakness, but a strength.