The Knicks didn’t exactly open their title defense with the kind of snap that makes everyone forget about a championship hangover. After dropping their first three games to the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston Celtics, and Orlando Magic, New York looked flat enough for Mike Brown to say on opening night that it looked like his players were running in mud.
But the early stumble also set the stage for something the Knicks may need all season: fresh faces with something to prove.
Dalton Knecht, Andre Drummond, and James Wiseman all arrive in New York carrying their own grudge, in different forms. None of them were part of last season’s championship run, and each one has a reason to play like the league overlooked him.
Knecht got his first real shot in the Knicks’ blowout win over the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden, and he made it count. The 25-year-old scored 10 points in 16 minutes and grabbed seven rebounds while trying to show the Los Angeles Lakers that cutting him at the end of the 2026 offseason was a mistake. The Lakers had taken him in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft, so this was a chance to remind them they let the wrong guy go.
Drummond’s motivation is different, but just as sharp. New York brought in the 33-year-old as the replacement for Mitchell Robinson, and Drummond entered the offseason believing he had already shown he was worth more than veteran-minimum money.
The market told him otherwise. Now he’s trying to push back against what he sees as leaguewide misconceptions about his value, even with a long career already behind him.
Wiseman fits the same mold. The 25-year-old wasn’t on the championship roster either, and at one point he was prepared to continue his career abroad before New York’s need at center created an opening. He earned that opportunity in training camp, and now he’s in position to prove he still belongs in the NBA.
The Knicks aren’t counting on that trio to carry the load when things get tight. But they do need them to help keep the regular season from going stale.
New York returned its entire playoff rotation except Robinson, and the starting lineup is still made up of players between 29 and 31 years old, right in their athletic primes. On paper, this is a team built to contend again.
In practice, the challenge is staying sharp long enough to get there.
That’s where players like Knecht, Drummond, and Wiseman can matter. They’re not just depth pieces.
They’re reminders that every minute has to be earned, every night has to mean something. Jose Alvarado helped keep players in Brown’s rotation humble last season, and Jordan Clarkson’s transformation came, in part, from that same process.
If these new Knicks keep getting chances, they could end up nudging the rest of the roster into the kind of edge that matters once the playoffs arrive.
In Other News...
Knicks Are Sending Mikal Bridges A Clear Early-Season Message
Mikal Bridges has already felt Mike Browns tighter leash early in the season, with the Knicks coach turning to his bench sooner than the team did a year ago. For a player who signed a four-year extension and was a key defensive piece during last springs playoff run, the shift has been noticeable, especially as New York tries to settle into the rhythm of a title defense.
Brown has made it clear that Bridges has to work through his early shooting struggles, and the minutes picture reflects that message. The Knicks are not easing up on standards just because theyre the defending champions, and Bridges role in the biggest moments will depend on how quickly he answers the challenge. [Read more 🡒]
James Wiseman Just Reopened A Knicks Rotation Question
James Wisemans start with the Knicks has been quiet enough to barely register, with limited minutes and no baskets through his first handful of appearances. But his showing against the Bulls offered a different glimpse of what he can bring, as he finished with four baskets, eight rebounds and three blocks in just 10 minutes, the kind of burst that can change how a bench unit looks in a hurry.
For a team still sorting out its frontcourt depth, that matters. Wiseman now leads the Knicks in blocks per game, and his per-36-minute numbers hint at a backup center who could be more than just a stopgap if the production keeps trending this way. The question is no longer whether he can flash impact in a short stint, but whether the Knicks can turn that into something reliable in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Brought Dink Pate Back For A Reason Fans Should Watch
The Westchester Knicks are set to open the season with a familiar kind of developmental spotlight, as several two-way players are expected to log meaningful minutes, including Jaden Akins, Dalton Knecht and Tyler Nickel. For New York, that makes the G League affiliate more than just a holding spot - it is a proving ground, and the organization has already made one of its clearest bets on upside by bringing back Dink Pate on an Exhibit-10 deal before waiving him to steer him to Westchester.
Pate already knows the environment, having averaged 16.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 50 games there, and the Knicks will be watching closely to see whether he can build on that foundation. His path is the kind teams hope to uncover through the G League system: steady development now, with a chance to work his way toward a two-way contract or even a standard NBA deal down the line. [Read more 🡒]