It has been 27 long years since the New York Knicks last made the NBA Finals, but they’re finally back. For the love of Chalamet, Spike and Tracy Morgan, Madison Square Garden is going to host a finals game again.
That quarter-century was a painful time for Knicks fans. There was a lot of losing, a lot of firings, a lot of false hope. Jerome James. Antonio McDyess. Eddy Curry. Joakim Noah. The list of indignities ran long in New York.
But it doesn’t matter anymore. That’s all over. The Knicks are back. The city is juiced. The subway station entrances are blue and orange. All that pain is in the past.
New York returned in a unique way, too. After two decades of dysfunction and disarray, the Knicks built a finals team unlike almost any others in recent history. They join the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers as the only teams to make the finals without any of their own first-round picks in the starting lineup.
These Knicks got to the finals operating completely different than the 1999 team. There were no shortcuts, just gradual roster building and a slew of smart moves piled on top of one another.
A few crucial decisions have brought the Knicks to within two wins of the franchise’s first NBA title since 1973. These are the inflection-point moments for the Knicks that got them here, as well as decisions that kept them spinning their wheels for decades.
Trading Patrick Ewing
The first deconstruction of the ’90s Knicks came in September 2000. While Ewing was 38 and not in peak form, he was still Patrick Ewing. The Knicks traded a franchise legend to Seattle and got back an aging Glen Rice and others. Worse, they traded away a first-round pick in the deal to break up a team that was in the Eastern Conference finals the season prior. With Ewing gone, head coach Jeff Van Gundy resigned a few months later.
Patrick Ewing was the Knicks dominant star of the ’80s and ’90s. His trade in 2000 marked the end of a competitive but ultimately ringless era of Knicks basketball. (John Ruthroff / AFP)
Trading for Antonio McDyess
There was a nearly endless run of bad personnel decisions over the two decades before this administration arrived, but the McDyess deal in June 2002 might be the apotheosis of them. The Knicks traded for McDyess at the worst possible time. The former All-Star was on a six-year, $67 million contract and also had a bad knee injury. He didn’t play for the Knicks during the 2002-03 season and then got traded away the next season in a deal for Stephon Marbury. He played just 18 games for the Knicks and averaged 8.4 points.
The price, however, was painful. General manager Scott Layden sent away Marcus Camby, Mark Jackson and the No. 7 pick (Nenê) to the Denver Nuggets for almost nothing in return. Honorable mention to the James, Curry and Noah signings here for worst transactions.
The Larry Brown era
Brown might have provided the most theatrical era of any prodigal Knicks savior. He took over in New York in July 2005 after leading the Detroit Pistons to an NBA title and an Eastern Conference finals trip. He stayed just one season and went 23-59. He got into fights with almost everyone. He got fired with more than $40 million remaining on his contract. He was replaced by Isiah Thomas, already the general manager. The Knicks had 10 head coaches between Van Gundy and Mike Brown, not including interims, but none flamed out like Larry Brown.
The Carmelo Anthony trade
When the Knicks traded for Anthony before the 2011 trade deadline, they finally landed the star they always sought after striking out on LeBron James. The problem is that it cost them so much that the trade arguably hampered the team long-term. That it led to Mike D’Antoni’s exit probably didn’t help. But Anthony is also one of the best Knicks of all time and is still regarded fondly at MSG. The Melo era might not have delivered much success, but he definitely delivered star power.
Jeremy Lin only spent 35 games with the New York Knicks. But what a glorious 35 games they were! (Chris Trotman / Getty Images)
Linsanity
No list of important moments for the Knicks over the last quarter-century could be complete without this. Jeremy Lin was a supernova. He was the biggest story in sports for a short period of time. In February 2012, Lin gave the Knicks hope and provided so much joy. He hit game-winners and outdueled Kobe Bryant. He made the cover of Sports Illustrated. He made the D’Antoni era fun and optimistic for a while. And then … he was gone.
Almost getting Kyle Lowry
The Knicks almost traded for Lowry in 2013. He was still young and on the ascent at the time and while he wasn’t Kyle Lowry yet, he was a good player for the Toronto Raptors. The Knicks had a deal to trade a future first-round pick for Lowry, according to reports, but owner James Dolan nixed the trade at the last second. Oh what could have been. Lowry became an All-Star, a world champion and one of the best two-way point guards of his generation.
The return of the Zen Master
What a time. The Knicks hired Jackson, a legendary head coach with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers (and former Knicks forward), in March 2014 and let him cook as the team president. It did not go well. Jackson played mind games with Anthony. He got into a feud with LeBron James. He missed out on hiring Steve Kerr to be his head coach. He drafted Frank Ntilikina over Donovan Mitchell. He got fired after three seasons. How’s it goink?
The Porziņģis trade
The decision to send Kristaps Porziņģis to the Dallas Mavericks in late January 2019 probably engendered the most venom of any trade the Knicks made in this time period. Porziņģis was a homegrown All-Star — the only good decision Phil Jackson made — and the unicorn was beloved by fans and seen as the man who would pivot the Knicks to success one day. Then he tore his ACL, feuded with the organization a bit and the Knicks brass chose to trade him rather than give him a max-rookie extension.
Ultimately this turned out to be a wise choice. Porziņģis continued to get hurt and the Mavericks traded him to the Wizards after giving him that extension. The Knicks got two first-round picks out of the deal. Those picks didn’t turn into much, but they were good assets for a rebuilding team. The Knicks had hoped to use the cap space they opened up for the summer of 2019 to lure Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to New York. Instead, they went to a different borough. But New York did sign Julius Randle, who was part of the revival and then traded for Karl-Anthony Towns.
Hiring Leon Rose
The move that started it all. In February 2020, the Knicks fired team president Steve Mills and quickly settled on his successor. Rose was then a long-time player agent who hung out his own shingle in New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, and rose to prominence as the head of basketball at CAA Sports. It was an unconventional hire but also had some logic behind it. The Golden State Warriors had built a dynasty with former agent Bob Myers at the helm and MSG and Dolan had long had a close relationship with CAA.
Rose wasted no time in bringing his folks in. He hired Tom Thibodeau, a longtime friend and CAA client, as the head coach. He plucked Brock Aller out of Cleveland to lead cap and strategy and empowered him to build a strategy group. He brought in smart executives like Frank Zanin and Walt Perrin, and kept GM Scott Perry. Most of those people and that infrastructure has lasted. The feeling around the NBA in the early days of the Rose regime was that this would be more of the same for the forever star-hunting Knicks but it actually put them on the road to a thoughtful, diligent management approach they hadn’t had in decades.
Drafting Immanuel Quickley
This was an under-the-radar move that was quite important. The road to Quickley actually began at the trade deadline before Rose came in. The Knicks traded Marcus Morris to the LA Clippers for a 2020 first-round pick. That landed at No. 27. The Knicks then moved around in the draft, packing No. 27 and an early second round pick to move up to No. 23, then dropped back to No. 25, where they selected Quickley.
He soon became a rotation staple for Thibodeau and nearly won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2023. The Knicks would not have been able to overachieve early in the Thibodeau times without him on the roster and they would not have landed one of their current key players without including Quickley in the deal.
Trading for Derrick Rose
This move is probably forgotten now but it was crucial at the time. The Knicks dealt for Rose just a few weeks into the 2020-21 season. The trade for Rose gave Thibodeau a player he knew well and bought into him and his system. The magic is in the work, Thibodeau liked to say, but damn if he didn’t demand his teams to work hard. Rose didn’t mind. He was a Thibs disciple. He also helped propel the Knicks to the playoffs that season, which surprised many.
That made that season a proof of concept for Thibodeau, and for Rose. Early success is crucial in New York, especially for an owner with a notably quick trigger for coaches and executives. It’s hard to say how everything might have gone if the Knicks had missed the playoffs as expected that season but because of Rose, they didn’t have to worry.
The Knicks didn’t draft Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson or Josh Hart. But through free-agent signings and trades, the ‘Nova Knicks were born. (Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
Signing Jalen Brunson
This is the most consequential personnel decision of this era for the Knicks and one of the most important ones in franchise history. In the summer of 2022, the Knicks signed an undersized scoring guard from the Dallas Mavericks to a four-year, $104 million contract and gave him a player option at the end of it. Brunson was talented and had a winning pedigree from his days at Villanova, but it was also controversial at the time to give what seemed like a market-busting deal to Luka Dončić’s backcourt mate who also happened to be Leon Rose’s godson. Oh and they hired his dad, Rick, a longtime Thibodeau acolyte, as an assistant coach.
How wrong we all were! Brunson is the foundation in New York. He’ll go into the Hall of Fame in a Knicks jersey and if the Knicks win the NBA championship he may well get his own statue in the city somewhere. Either Mayor Zohran Mamdani or Dolan will build it.
Trading for Josh Hart
In February 2023, the Knicks traded a protected first-round pick and a reclamation lottery pick in Cam Reddish for a 27-year-old energy wing with an unreliable jumper. It turned out to be a smart move. Hart has been the heart and soul of the team, not just as Brunson’s BFF, but as a grinder who rebounds, runs the floor and punishes teams with his physicality. Hart helped establish the Thibodeau style of play, which set the stage for the success to come.
Trading for OG Anunoby
This was a move that few saw coming and took the Knicks to a different level when they traded for the Raptors’ forward in December 2023. New York had to part with two homegrown players, R.J. Barrett and Quickley, to do it but Anunoby has been the perfect addition. He’s long, he can shoot and there are few better defenders in the league. He’s been a pivotal connector and two-way player. Anunoby was arguably the Knicks’ best player this spring before he got hurt against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Knicks had to spend big to re-sign him months after they traded for him, pushed up by interest from Philadelphia, but the contract has been well worth it.
Trading for Mikal Bridges
This remains the most controversial move the Knicks have made under Rose and the team’s rare retreat from its value-at-all-costs approach. There had been some thought about whether or when the Knicks would make an all-in move under Rose after they accumulated a war chest of future first round picks. No one foresaw that they would deal five of them (and a pick swap) for Bridges, an emerging star across the river for the Brooklyn Nets but still someone who had never been an All-Star and did not fit the profile of the kind of player who usually drew those kinds of offers.
But the Knicks got a tremendous wing defender with offensive potential on a great contract, and he had a personal history with Hart and Brunson after their time together at Villanova. The deal has seemed iffy at times as Bridges struggled occasionally with the Knicks, but he has been great this postseason and played a crucial role in the finals run.
Trading for KAT
The trade that came on the eve of training camp shocked the league. It was far from a consensus winner for the Knicks at the time. Karl-Anthony Towns, while very talented, came with questions about his defense and if he could be a top player on a title-contending team. He has quieted those this spring. Towns has been an offensive hub as a scorer and a facilitator. He has also not been a defensive sore spot. His passing and rebounding have been key traits. Ultimately, this deal proved to be a ceiling lifter for the team. While Julius Randle had played admirably for the Knicks he was an inefficient scorer and playmaker in big moments and he fit awkwardly around Brunson. Towns has not.
Firing Thibs, hiring Mike Brown
This was, perhaps, the most interesting choice the Knicks made to get here. It was not a shock that they fired Thibodeau; rumors of his possible demise had circled around the league entering the playoffs. But Thibodeau had coached the Knicks to their most successful season in 25 years. He had his faults but was a good coach. Then the Knicks set out on a bumpy coaching search pockmarked with rejections.
If Brown was not their preferred primary hire, he has done the job well. He joins Joe Lapchick, Red Holzman, Pat Riley and Van Gundy as coaches to get the Knicks to the finals. He has them playing an aesthetically pleasing style of ball and tenacious defense. His low-key demeanor has worked in New York and he has done almost the impossible. He’s helped the Knicks meet expectations.
