This weekend the New York Knicks were crowned champions of the NBA for the 2025-26 season. The position is an envious one. 29 other teams would love to hold the trophy and the distinction.
Somewhat understandably, the pattern for New York’s title run has gotten attention in the Blazer’s Edge Mailbag. Could the Knicks illuminate a way forward for the Portland Trail Blazers? Check out the question.
Dave,
I think there’s hopes in the Knicks beating the mighty Spurs. They kept home grown talent together
for several years. They didn’t focus around a single star even though Brunson scored lots. It was a team approach of growing veterans completely unlike the Spurs. This is the blueprint for us. Do you see [Portland] being able to copy that pattern with our own home grown players and team approach? Nobody would have predicted the Knicks winning like this. Let [the Blazers] cook and watch what happens in a couple years!
Mark
That’s not exactly what the Knicks did, though. Here’s how they put their core together:
- They signed Jalen Bruson in 2022 after the Dallas Mavericks, who originally drafted him, failed to offer him a contract in free agency, preferring fellow draftee Luka Doncic at point guard. This was a massive, unduplicatable stroke of insight and/or fortune for the Knicks franchise…a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. (By the way, Brunson later agreed to leave millions of dollars of salary on the table to allow the Knicks to retain everyone else around him, also a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence for a superstar who hadn’t made bank yet. Brunson literally bought this title with tens of millions of his own money, money that New York otherwise wouldn’t have had for these other players.)
- In 2024 they traded six first-round picks to get Mikal Bridges, who at the time was considered maybe the hottest trade target in the entire league, a 20-point scorer, defensive master, and superstar-in-waiting.
- In 2024 they traded franchise star Julius Randle, sweet-shooting guard Donte Divincenzo, and a first-round pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for generational (at least in Minnesota) franchise center Karl-Anthony Towns, who was aging without winning up to that point.
- In 2024 they used their Brunson savings to sign prominent forward OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors. Anunoby was, at the time, All-NBA second-team defense and a marginal candidate for Defensive Player of the Year.
- In 2023 they got Josh Hart from the Trail Blazers in a cheapo trade as Portland was trying to cut back on veterans as they entered a rebuilding phase.
- In 2018 they drafted center Mitchell Robinson in the second round of the NBA Draft.
- In 2021 they signed guard Miles McBride as a free agent. They did the same with guard Landry Shamet in 2024.
Of the top eight players in New York’s rotation this year, only one—Robinson—was “home grown”. The rest came in trades—most high-profile, as the players were known stars—or in amazing and fortuitous free-agent signings. Outside of Robinson, they built their entire roster in a massive overhaul between 2022-2024. They “cooked” it for two seasons. That’s it.
Folks don’t remember, but after a decent start, the team slumped mid-season this year. During that time, calls began to arise to break it up. Then one big run through an injury-riddled Eastern Conference and one Finals victory over a young San Antonio Spurs team later, and suddenly the Knicks are the new archetype.
Except we’d kinda better hope not, because the Blazers can’t duplicate what New York just did. Nobody could forecast the Brunson signing. (Even if such a player were available, why would they come to Portland and how would the capped-out Blazers pay them?) Nobody could predict the superstar discount contract. If those problems are surmountable, the Blazers are still exactly one six-pick trade and one superstar swap away from doing what New York did. That’s a lot.
If the Blazers were to follow the pattern, they wouldn’t “let the roster cook”. By that standard they’re already overdue on trading many of their current players. Within the next couple years you’d see Deni Avdija, Toumani Camara, Scoot Henderson, Shaedon Sharpe, and more moved. Maybe Donovan Clingan or Yang Hansen would stay. A whole host of players with high hopes—but little experience together—would replace them and we’d all go on a roller coaster ride for two seasons and hope things fell right for an amazing title run.
As much as I admired what the Knicks did this year, I don’t think that’s a replicable process, especially not in Portland.
The one part of the title run I found interesting from Portland’s perspective was the coach. Mike Brown was basically a high-end veteran retread. He’d served with the Cleveland Cavaliers (twice!), Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings, and as an assistant with the Golden State Warriors, Indiana Pacers, Washington Wizards, and Spurs before New York hired him last summer. The Kings had fired him in a messy, mid-season axing in 2024, leading to questions about his desirability. Brown was panned in several quarters when he took over for Tom Thibodeau, who had just led the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals since Jeff Van Gundy roamed the sidelines. Brown was not a sexy name when he took the reins.
But a solid, veteran coach was able to instill practices and make adjustments that ended up helping his team to the ultimate win. It wasn’t a system. It wasn’t a TED talk. It was just basketball, knowing how to maximize your team’s strengths while exploiting the other guys’ weaknesses. That knowledge, and the discipline to implement it, made the difference.
Outside of elite circles, almost all the hot names in NBA coaching are young, untried assistants, with a few former players salted in. Fair enough, but sometimes players just need a steady hand, good habits, and an insistence on detail work.
I’m not saying the Blazers would excel with a coach like Mike Brown on the bench. The Kings didn’t. Portland doesn’t have the experience and star power of Brown’s championship roster. But I am saying that experience and basketball-lifer-ism sometimes have value that tends to get underrated in the quest for the Next Hotness. Food for thought.
Thanks for the question! You can always send yours to blazersub@gmail.com and we’ll try to answer as many as possible!
