Mike Brown didn’t just coach the Knicks into a better defensive team. He flipped the whole thing.
New York opened the 2025-26 season with plenty of questions about that end of the floor, especially with a roster full of players better known for scoring than stopping anybody. That concern had real legs after the Knicks finished 2024-25 ranked No. 13 in the NBA in defensive rating. But in Brown’s first season, the group climbed all the way to No. 7, and the jump went well beyond simply getting Mitchell Robinson back healthy.
The biggest change was buy-in. Players who had spent most of their careers being praised for offense suddenly started treating defense like it mattered just as much.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the clearest example. The All-NBA big man has always been a force on offense, but his defensive reputation has never matched his scoring. That changed in 2025-26, when he became one of the league’s best two-way bigs and helped define the Knicks’ new identity.
Basketball Index backed up the eye test. Towns finished the season in the 91st percentile in rim protection and the 98th percentile in screener mobile defense.
A year earlier, he had been in the 78th and 46th percentiles in those same categories. The difference showed up everywhere: less drifting on the perimeter, more resistance at the rim, and a far more physical approach overall.
That shift mattered most in the NBA Finals, where Towns’ defense on Victor Wembanyama played a direct role in the title win.
He wasn’t the only one who changed. Jordan Clarkson and Landry Shamet had long been known for their offensive value, while their defensive inconsistency drew plenty of criticism. Under Brown, both became important reserves whose energy and effort on both ends earned them real postseason minutes.
And the results were hard to ignore. The Knicks went 9-0 in the playoffs when they held opponents under 100 points, which says plenty about what Brown accomplished. He got a roster built around scoring talent to embrace defense, and that buy-in carried New York all the way to a championship.
In Other News...
Knicks Fans Finally Get A Look At One Intriguing Newcomer
The first real look at Jack Kayil has been a little slower in coming than Knicks fans probably hoped after New York took the Alba Berlin guard with the 39th pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Kayil sat out the clubs first Summer League game because of a delay tied to his team in Germany, but the wait appears close to ending, giving the Knicks a chance to see the kind of newcomer they added after trading down and stockpiling second-round picks in a draft shaped by their salary cap realities.
Kayils arrival also comes with the usual questions that follow an international pick in this spot. He does not have an obvious opening on the big club right now, and the Knicks may ultimately leave him in Germany next season as a draft-and-stash option. For now, though, the more immediate intrigue is simply getting him on the floor, with his debut expected soon and a matchup against the Spurs looming as the next chance for New York to evaluate what it has. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Clarksons Return Just Put More Heat On Tyler Kolek
Jordan Clarksons return gives the Knicks another experienced guard option and, in the process, tightens an already crowded backcourt picture. For Tyler Kolek, that means the margin for error keeps shrinking as he tries to carve out a real role in a rotation that already has Deuce McBride, Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado ahead of him.
Kolek still has time to change the conversation, but the path back into meaningful minutes looks anything but straightforward. Unless the Knicks make a move that reshapes the guard group or injuries open a lane, he is left waiting for an opening that may not come quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Have Made Their Smartest Summer Move Without Fixing Center
The Knicks spent part of the summer adding familiar depth pieces in Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet and Andre Drummond, but the quieter move may have come in the draft-pick column. New York has also picked up four future second-rounders in recent trades, a stash of low-cost assets that gives the front office more ways to keep tinkering without touching the top of the roster.
That matters because the center spot still looks like the area most worth watching, even after the Drummond addition. The Knicks have been linked to other frontcourt possibilities, including Kyle Filipowski, and the extra picks could give them a path to chase another big or package together a broader trade if they decide the current group still needs one more answer inside. [Read more 🡒]