Knicks Bench Making Quiet Strides Under Mike Brown - Even as Rotation Remains a Moving Target
When Mike Brown took the reins as head coach of the Knicks on opening night, he wasted no time shaking things up. Eleven players saw the floor within the first 13 minutes, and by the final buzzer of that win over the Cavaliers, 10 of them had logged at least 12 minutes.
It was an early signal that the days of grinding the starters into the ground - a hallmark of the previous regime - were over. Brown was going to do things differently.
Now, 45 games into the season, that shift is starting to take shape in the numbers. The Knicks are 27-18, and while the bench isn’t exactly lighting up the scoreboard, it’s made real progress - particularly when you compare it to last year’s group.
Let’s start with the basics. The Knicks’ bench is averaging 84.2 minutes per game (23rd in the league), 32.6 points (27th), and 16.1 rebounds (17th).
Not eye-popping, but here’s the context: last season, they were dead last in all three categories - just 63.5 minutes, 21.7 points, and 10.1 boards per game. That’s a massive leap in usage and production.
But the biggest jump? Net rating.
Last season, the Knicks’ bench posted a -4.6 net rating. This year, that number has flipped to +3.4 - third-best in the NBA.
That’s not just improvement. That’s transformation.
Brown made it clear in the preseason that he wasn’t interested in chasing wins at the expense of player health. Drawing from his time with the Warriors, he emphasized the importance of managing minutes and keeping legs fresh. That philosophy has guided his approach all season.
It’s also meant tough decisions. Last season’s bench featured names like Cam Payne, Precious Achiuwa, and Delon Wright - all of whom are now out of the league or playing overseas.
Yet somehow, the Knicks still made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. This year, the front office tried to bolster the second unit by bringing in Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson.
But neither has carved out a consistent role.
Yabusele is averaging just 9.2 minutes across 38 games. Clarkson, who came out of the gate hot as a scoring spark plug, has seen his role steadily shrink.
He didn’t play at all in Saturday’s win over the Sixers. In a blowout loss to Dallas earlier this month, he played less than two minutes in the first quarter and never returned.
Even in the Knicks’ most lopsided win in franchise history - a rout of the Nets - Clarkson didn’t see the floor until garbage time in the fourth.
Still, Clarkson isn’t shying away from his belief that he can contribute.
“I can help any team in the league. I helped win here,” Clarkson said.
“You seen it early on in the year. I know I got a lot left in my tank.
I know I can impact winning anywhere.”
Brown, for his part, has acknowledged the challenge of finding minutes for everyone.
“It can be tough to get him in the rotation,” Brown said of Clarkson. “Deuce [McBride] played well, Mitch [Robinson] played well, and Landry [Shamet] was playing at a pretty high level before he got hurt. I can’t even hit the minute threshold for all the guys I’m looking for.”
That’s the reality of a deep roster. And when guys like McBride are producing, it’s hard to argue.
McBride currently leads the team with a 12.4 net rating, per Cleaning the Glass. The Knicks are scoring nearly nine more points per 100 possessions and allowing 3.5 fewer when he’s on the floor.
That’s impact.
Mitchell Robinson’s return to form has been another boost. After missing much of last season, he’s back to anchoring the paint and cleaning the glass. His presence - especially on defense - has helped solidify the second unit.
Meanwhile, players like Pacome Dadiet and Mo Diawara have seen sporadic minutes. Tyler Kolek looked like a breakout candidate earlier in the year but hasn’t played in two of the last seven games. It’s a rotation in flux, and Brown has made it clear that matchups and momentum will dictate who gets the call.
That flexibility was on full display in Saturday’s win over the Sixers. With Karl-Anthony Towns limited by foul trouble, Brown leaned heavily on just eight players. Yabusele got a brief first-half run, and Ariel Hukporti played a key four-minute stretch in the fourth, but otherwise, it was a tight rotation.
Brown even closed the game with a five-man unit he hadn’t used once all season. That kind of willingness to experiment - and to adapt on the fly - has been a defining feature of his tenure so far.
In total, 11 different players have started at least one game this season. That’s not by accident.
It’s part of the plan.
And the players are buying in.
“Some nights that’s going to have a huge onus on it,” Shamet said of the bench’s role. “Some nights it’s not.
Some nights it’s just going to change... That’s the beauty of our team.
We’re built that way.”
It’s not always pretty, and it’s certainly not predictable. But it’s working.
The Knicks are deeper, more versatile, and far more balanced than they were a year ago. The bench may not be racking up headlines, but it’s quietly becoming a strength - even as the rotation keeps spinning.