The Knicks left Wednesday night with a win over the Bulls and, just as important for the way this season has gone so far, a little bit of clarity. At 2-3, they’ve now won two straight, and while neither victory has exactly looked like a polished blueprint, the group is at least starting to show signs of finding its footing.
What stood out most in this one was the contrast. New York got a huge lift from the point guard spot, but it also got another reminder that some of its key rotation pieces are still a long way from where they need to be.
Jalen Brunson finally delivered the kind of night the Knicks have been waiting for. After opening the season putting up numbers without much efficiency, including two rough shooting performances against strong defenses, he looked far more like himself against Chicago.
The captain was getting where he wanted on the floor, knocking down shots he had been missing, and looking especially sharp from three off the dribble. It was the kind of performance that reminded everyone how quickly he can change a game when he’s rolling.
The Knicks also got strong work from Tyler Kolek, who kept building on his early-season momentum. Coming off the bench, he handed out nine assists and is now up to 21 assists in his last 44 minutes without a turnover. That’s not just productive - that’s the kind of stat line that forces a coaching staff to pay attention.
Jose Alvarado’s experience and his role in the team’s championship run make it hard to picture him losing his spot after only a few games, but Kolek is making the discussion harder to avoid. The third-year guard has been steering the bench offense better than any other non-starter, and he’s been especially helpful for Towns and, at times, Mikal Bridges. If he keeps knocking down open looks like he did Wednesday and holds up on defense, the case for a bigger role will only get stronger.
Then there’s the other side of the ledger.
Bridges’ start to the season has been rough enough that it can’t really be waved away anymore. Outside of one good half against the Pistons, he’s mostly been invisible, or he’s been aggressive without producing. That’s a bad combination, and it’s been happening for long enough now that it no longer feels like a one-night blip.
It’s still early, so nobody should be drawing sweeping conclusions about Bridges just yet. But the beginning of his season has been hard to miss, and not in a good way.
Miles McBride is in a similar spot. He’s coming off another disappointing game, and his minutes have already started to dip in a way that’s tough to ignore.
When he played just 14 minutes in the opener, it was fair to wonder if that was just a strange one-off. Five games later, it looks a lot more like a trend.
Last season, McBride played 15 minutes or less only a few times. This year, it’s already happened three times.
And there’s a real back-and-forth built into that situation: Mike Brown can point to the shooting struggles as part of why his role has shrunk, while McBride can point to the smaller role as part of why his confidence may be off. Either way, the result has been the same.
He hasn’t played to his standard.
So while the Knicks can take some encouragement from Brunson and Kolek, the larger picture still includes two rotation players who have yet to deliver what New York needs from them. The team has managed to get by with both Bridges and McBride underperforming. That won’t be enough for long if the Knicks want to become the team they’re aiming to be.
In Other News...
Knicks Already Have An OG Anunoby Problem They Cant Ignore
OG Anunoby has been asked to do more for the Knicks this season, and the early returns have been mixed in a way that matters beyond the box score. With more touches and more drives per game, New York has tried to put him in positions to create offense instead of just finish it, but the efficiency has slipped and the ripple effect has shown up on the other end, too.
For a team that leans on Anunoby as one of its most important two-way pieces, that is not a small issue. His offensive struggles have gone hand in hand with a dip in his defensive impact and the Knicks net rating when he is on the floor, which raises a bigger question about whether his game is best suited for a primary creator role at all. New York may have to rethink how much is being put on his plate before the fit starts costing them in more than one phase. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Suddenly Have A Mikal Bridges Decision They Can't Ignore
The Knicks are staring at a fresh layer of roster pressure after ESPN reported that Oklahoma Citys Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace will undergo surgery and miss most or all of the season. For New York, that only sharpens the focus on Mikal Bridges, whose uneven play has become harder to ignore as the team weighs what its wing rotation and long-term cap picture should look like.
Bridges was supposed to be one of the stabilizing pieces, but his struggles have turned him into a more complicated decision than the Knicks probably expected. With Oklahoma City now dealing with major absences, the idea of a trade involving Bridges and the Thunder has moved into the conversation, and New York has to consider not just the basketball fit but the roster and salary implications that come with it. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Face A New Problem In Their Backup Center Search
Chet Holmgrens expected absence for eight to 10 weeks has already sent a ripple through the backup big man market, and that matters for the Knicks as they continue looking for frontcourt help. Oklahoma City is now weighing whether to add another center to absorb the loss of Holmgren, and when a team with that kind of flexibility enters the same pool, it can change the price and the timing for everyone else.
For New York, the concern is less about one specific target than the broader squeeze that can follow. The Thunder have more assets and more salary cap room to work with, which gives them a cleaner path to outbid or outmaneuver a team like the Knicks if the same players become available. In a market where dependable size is already hard to find, that kind of competition could make an already tricky search even more complicated. [Read more 🡒]