Knicks Poised to Make Obvious Change as Season Nears

The New York Knicks just wrapped up the NBA’s Summer League, and now, it’s back to gearing up for the 2025-26 season to start. The team, of course, has a new head coach in Mike Brown, and he’s already putting his stamp on this team and their players. Brown is also changing the way that they play.

Those who watched the Knicks’ performance at Summer League will note that New York had a mixed bag when it came to their performance. Notably, the team’s offensive had problems, and for their games, the Knicks averaged 0.978 points per possession, which was the seventh-lowest mark in the series.

So, Brown has his work cut out for him. Although the NBA Summer League performance is really nothing to freak out over, it shows some areas where Brown might focus on to improve.

The 1 Major Change for the Knicks in 2025-26

It’s so obvious that the biggest change for the Knicks in the 2025-26 season will be that the team will get faster. Brown, as a coach, is known for his fast-paced playing style, and that’s an area where the Knicks have struggled, so he’s expected to speed the team up.

“The first thing is, everybody knows I like to play fast,” Brown said in his introductory press conference. “Like I said, we have an outstanding roster. I’m excited about that. And to have a guy like Jalen out there gives you the versatility to play all different types of ways, which is what it’s going to take throughout the course of a ball game. ”

That speed was already seen in the NBA Summer League games, and the Knicks are already playing faster. According to Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo of The Daily Knicks, “So far, through three summer league games, the Knicks are taking only 3.66 seconds to halfcourt, the third-quickest of any team, according to league tracking data.” On top of that, the team is “getting into their first action in only 5.75 seconds, which is once again the third-fastest among any team,” he adds, noting that because of that, the team’s average possession length has gone down to 13.2 seconds.

So, the Knicks are already playing fast, but that’s not necessarily making them play better, at least just looking at Summer League data. As O’Brien-Pappalardo notes in the Thursday, July 17 feature, “While the tempo has definitely been raised, the results haven’t been what the Knicks have hoped for, at least so far.”

Some Bright Spots for the Knicks in the NBA Summer League

The team’s best game was against the Brooklyn Nets, where the Knicks had 1.1 points per possession. But, as O’Brien-Pappalardo points out, “their pace slowed a bit from the first.”

So, this already seems to be a case of the Knicks being more comfortable not playing fast, which makes sense, because it’s how they’ve played for a while now. Hopefully we can choc it up to growing pains, because it will feel very different for this team to speed up under Brown.

But, if the Knicks want to get to a championship, speed is what they’ll need. Last season, of course, the Knicks make it to the Eastern Conference Finals only to fall to the Indiana Pacers. While the Knicks are a great team no matter their pace, only the greatest and most iconic go all the way, and those teams tend to be fast.