Now that the New York Knicks have picked up the pieces to form a title team, what lies next for them?
Knicks must focus on new strategy with OG Anunoby
Maximizing their talents will best position the Knicks to overcome their failure from last season.
OG Anunoby is a great option that the Knicks’ coaching staff can field as a better slasher. The Athletic’s Fred Katz said this in response, per NBA.com:
“Might [Mike] Brown try other ways to use Anunoby as a cutter? Could he curl around Towns for more dribble-handoffs, like Brown implemented with Domantas Sabonis in Sacramento?” Katz posed.
“No coincidence, approximately one in every six of his field-goal attempts with the Knicks in 2023-24 were dunks, which would be the highest figure of his career if he sustained that rate for a single season.”
Anunoby can reach scoring prime with coach Brown
New York’s head coach can be just what’s needed for Anunoby to do what he does best in the scoring department. All signs say that should be the outcome.
Brown will offer Anunoby championship coaching from his days with the Golden State Warriors. Both teams’ progressive player movement led to better looks inside.
Jimmy Butler, in addition to Stephen Curry as well as Andrew Wiggins, all excelled because of facilitation from Draymond Green, coupled with Kevon Looney. That led to many championship wins.
Karl-Anthony Towns can emulate Golden State’s bigs, finding Anunoby in the best position to score. Anunoby’s accuracy inside of five feet from the basket was sensational in 2024-25.
Not only that, but New York did not drive the ball as much as they should have, with 46.8 drives per game. However, they were joined by five teams that shot 50 percent or more from the field as well as above 80 percent from the free-throw line.
Thus, New York’s offense can benefit from a makeup from coach Brown. That would allow Anunoby to minimize his time of possession while increasing his field goal attempts.
A career year could be on the horizon for the All-Defensive force.