As had widely been anticipated, the New York Knicks have gotten off to a solid start to kick off their 2025-26 season. Sporting a 22-9 record on the year, New York currently occupies the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Knicks might even be gunning for that No. 1 spot. They have gone 8-2 across their past 10 contests, and are just two games worse than the top-seeded Detroit Pistons (24-7).
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Still, the East is the least of New York’s problems.
The Western Conference boasts five loaded rosters in the Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and the Minnesota Timberwolves, all of whom may have a bit of an athletic edge over the Knicks in a hypothetical NBA Finals series.
The fifth-seeded Los Angeles Lakers look fairly vulnerable, and barring a trade don’t seem to quite be in the others’ class.
So, it’s perhaps with the Finals in mind that New York is looking to bolster its bench by this season’s Feb. 5 trade deadline.
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Per Jake Fischer of The Stein Line, the 2025 Emirates NBA Cup champs (who bested the Spurs to earn that distinction) may be rethinking their trade priorities.
New York had apparently been considering some point guard depth behind All-NBA Second Teamer Jalen Brunson, but the ascent of second-year pro Tyler Kolek on both ends has inspired a recalibration.
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Across his past 10 games, Kolek has been averaging 7.7 points on .485/.346/.667 shooting splits, 4.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.7 steals in just 18.4 minutes per.
“Kolek’s strong recent play could lead the Knicks to look at addressing their frontcourt depth instead. Especially since summer signee Guerschon Yabusele has fallen out of Mike Brown’s rotation,” Fischer writes. “Yet it remains to be seen how the Knicks decide to play it. As impressive as Kolek has been, not having a playoff-tested veteran behind star guard Jalen Brunson is a potential vulnerability for a team with championship aspirations.”
Yabusele inked a two-year, $11.3 million contract this summer — which New York, no doubt, would be happy to ditch. In 26 games this year, he’s averaging just 9.6 minutes a night.
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