The New York Knicks are shaping up to be one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference next season, despite not making major moves this summer.
The Knicks did make two critical moves, beyond their controversial decision to fire five-year head coach Tom Thibodeau right after their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in a quarter-century.
New York signed free agent power forward Guerschon Yabusele to a two-season, $11.3 million deal and combo guard Jordan Clarkson to a one-season, $3.6 million contract. The duo seems likely to slot in to the club’s rotation automatically under new head coach Mike Brown.
All-NBA stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, All-Defensive Team wings Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, and shooting guard Josh Hart were Thibodeau’s preferred starters for much of the 2024-25 season, until offensive issues prompted Thibodeau to mix things up in the playoffs and sub in reserve center Mitchell Robinson. Backup guard Miles McBride is the other incumbent Knick likely to earn minutes in this reconfigured bench unit.
Thanks to Achilles tendon tears to All-Stars on three rival contenders (Indiana Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, and then-Milwaukee Bucks point guard Damian Lillard), the Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers have emerged as the two top healthy East contenders from last season who’ll have a shot at emerging from the conference. The revamped Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks are angling to crash the party, though.
While Keith Smith of Spotrac was in Las Vegas for Summer League this year, he picked up some intriguing intel from several anonymous East sources, including some key Knicks personnel.
An unnamed Knicks coach explained to Smith why New York was encumbered by forces beyond its control when it came to team-building this summer.
NBA Summer League is a bit about watching basketball and a lot about talking to people around the NBA about basketball.For @spotrac I emptied out half of my SL notebook. Here are notes from executives, coaches & scouts for all 15 Eastern Conference teams!https://t.co/P4zchFOk7f
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 21, 2025
“We didn’t have a lot we could do, because of the apron. But we were able to land a really good big man in Guerschon (Yabusele) and an experienced backup guard in Jordan (Clarkson),” the coach told Smith. “We feel pretty good about getting those two guys.”
