Well, folks. We’ve reached that part of the offseason.
Aside from looking for a third center and figuring out the two-ways, there’s basically nothing for the defending champions to do aside from polish their trophy until they head to training camp in September.
How do we fill this void? Personally, I like watching baseball over the summer, but I’d imagine a lot of you are Mets fans, and that might not be a positive experience. But on this site? Let’s get creative.
Welcome to Knicks Domino Effects, where we look at divergence points in the past that could’ve changed everything for the 2026 NBA champion New York Knicks.
Some of these will be extremely small moments you might not be familiar with. Others will be quite obvious, which you’ll see down the road.
Today, I’m starting this series niche. This video by well-known ex-SB Nation contributor Kofie Yeboah talks about a random 2024 game between the Kings and the Pistons that set off a pretty crazy domino effect in the NBA landscape. It’s a good watch, so I’ll link it below, but we’ll go into what it actually would’ve meant if it didn’t happen:
For those who want a TLDR, here’s what we’re going off of.
It’s December 26, 2024. The struggling Sacramento Kings lead the Pistons by three with 10 seconds left. Detroit has the ball and calls timeout.
Kings head coach Mike Brown, in the huddle, emphasizes one thing in particular: guard the perimeter. There shouldn’t be an opportunity for a hard closeout. The only thing that can beat you is a three. Get up on the three-point line and defend. If they’re gonna make a three, make them drain it in your face.
De’Aaron Fox apparently didn’t listen. He sagged off Jaden Ivey, realized too late, and fouled him. He made the shot. The Kings lost the game, falling to 13-18, on a play they entered up by three points on.
Mike Brown ribbed him after the game. It was deserved ribbing, and even though Fox has never had real issues with Brown, somehow this got blown out of proportion. The losing, coupled with some colorful press conferences, led to Brown’s dismissal the following day. The best coach that the Kings had in two decades was canned, a move that exemplifies why bad organizations stay bad.
Two years later, Brown is on top of the world as an NBA champion. The Kings are directionless.
Obviously, it’s a lot more complicated than saying one moment caused everything, but let’s have fun.
What if Fox listened to Brown in the huddle and this didn’t happen? Hell, let’s say that he just misses his assignment and allows the three, sending it to overtime, where the Kings would still have a chance to win.
How would things have changed?
SACRAMENTO, CA – DECEMBER 26: Head Coach Mike Brown of the Sacramento Kings coaches during the game against the Detroit Pistons on December 26, 2024 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
We start at this exact play. Malik Beasley swings it to Ivey, who takes advantage of a sagging Fox and buries a game-tying three. Instead of hitting Ivey, Fox flies by. Game tied, overtime.
The Kings were the better team for three quarters in this game, only getting blitzed in the fourth. It was a perfect duel between Fox and Cade Cunningham, but let’s say, for the purpose of this exercise, that Fox wins this duel in overtime, hitting a go-ahead 15-footer with 4.5 seconds left to get a much-needed win for the Kings. He and Brown embrace after the game. Monte McNair and company hold off on a coaching change.
The Kings aren’t good, so the seat never fully cools down, but they did play better over the course of the season under Doug Christie in real life. Let’s assume the front office backs off the nuclear option and instead decides to change personnel. They were reportedly interested in guys like Zach LaVine and Kyle Kuzma, but they won’t get either of those here.
Fox getting traded was an organizational shift by the Kings. He demanded a trade after extension talks fell apart and hitched a ride to San Antonio at the 2025 trade deadline. The timing of Brown’s firing makes you think that Fox didn’t like him, so keeping Coach Brown wouldn’t have changed things… right?
Wrong.
Every media report says that Fox had nothing to do with Brown’s firing. In fact, if Fox had been consulted about his coach during this rough stretch, he probably would’ve saved his job, but the delusions in Sacramento made both of them expendable.
If Brown stays, Fox likely does too. The Kings finish the 2024-25 season with a 37-45 record (slightly worse than IRL, to account for a potential post-firing jolt). They lose to the Mavericks in the 9-10 play-in game, but exit meetings go well, and they give Brown a short leash going into next season.
A month after the Kings decide to keep Brown for the 2025-26 season, the Knicks fire Tom Thibodeau. They begin a five-week hunt for their next head coach, sifting through candidates. In real life, they decided on Mike Brown.
In our scenario, Brown isn’t available. The Knicks call the Kings to request an interview and are denied. They are now deciding on a reduced field of candidates.
Your next head coach is either Wolves assistant Micah Nori, former Grizzlies’ head coach Taylor Jenkins, former Hornets’ head coach James Borrego, or… Dawn Staley?
Anyway, we have no idea who gets this job. No candidate reached a second interview except for Brown, who’s now unavailable, so let’s make an educated guess.
Welcome to the New York Knicks, Taylor Jenkins.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 27: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Head coach Taylor Jenkins of the Memphis Grizzlies in action against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on January 27, 2025 in New York City. The Knicks defeated the Grizzlies 143-106. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Jenkins has playoff head coaching experience, something that the Knicks valued in Brown, and a defensive attitude that would help a team that struggled on that end against the Indiana Pacers. It’s a different stylistic coach than Brown, sure, but there’s no Brown Lite we can go off of.
So let’s head to the 2025-26 season. Pretty much everything stays the same.
The Knicks are good, but underwhelming. The Kings are bad. Brown’s seat is red-hot.
In mid-January, with the Kings sitting at 17-24 after a home loss to the Knicks, they fired Brown and installed Christie as interim head coach. They finished the season 10-31 and missed the play-in with just 27 wins.
The Knicks finish 52-30 and are the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. It is truly impossible to tell what would’ve changed with Jenkins instead of Brown, but I believe there was too much talent for things to get bad. The 2-9 stretch probably still happens, but who cares. Jenkins was dismissed in Memphis because he and Ja Morant had major issues. I doubt that happens in this locker room.
Does Jenkins make the necessary adjustments to truly turn this team into a juggernaut midway through that Hawks series? Tough to say, but I’m still projecting this team in the NBA Finals. Why? After scraping by the Hawks in seven games, they’re facing two teams that just aren’t as good as them. Philly pushes it to five, and the Cavs push it to six, but both of these series are relatively stress-free.
Meanwhile, in the West, the Spurs emerge after a tricky path. The Blazers give them real trouble in the first round, and they struggle to shake off an injured T-Wolves team. They still barely eke out the Thunder, although this is maybe the least confident I’ve been in this entire experiment.
So it’s Knicks-Spurs again. Boring, right?
Here’s the change.
Jenkins isn’t an offensive guru like Brown is, so this is a reality where the Knicks never changed their offensive philosophy mid-playoff run. The Spurs are even more focused on denying Jalen Brunson and forcing a less confident version of both Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns to make plays.
The Spurs don’t let go of the rope and win Game 1. After the Knicks turned around and won Game 2, they lost Game 3 as regularly scheduled, to go into that big Game 4, even more crucial this time.
It’s hard to tell if the Knicks ever go down by 30 as they did in Game 4, but let’s say they do. They trail by one with 20 seconds left when Brunson badly misses a floater, and the ball ricochets out to center court. We know what happened here; play the footage:
But instead of Fox grabbing that ball and allowing Anunoby to be the hero with the greatest two-way sequence in NBA history, it’s Dylan Harper, who allows himself to be fouled. Brunson misses the three on the other end, and with a three-point deficit instead of a one-point deficit, the focus is on a rebound and kickout, which doesn’t happen in time.
Why is Harper there instead of Fox? Quite simple.
Despite being on the court at the exact same time as Fox, he would be running point guard in our alternate scenario and be in his spot, while Keldon Johnson or Julian Champagnie spawn elsewhere on the court.
That’s because Fox is still in Sacramento.
If you remember from earlier, Fox wanted a trade because Mike Brown was fired. In this scenario, Brown keeps his job a year later, and Fox stays put, only throwing a fit and demanding a trade in January 2026 in the final year of his contract, but wherever he ended up, it wouldn’t have been the resurgent Spurs, who are more than happy to give the keys to Harper and Stephon Castle. Maybe he ends up in Chicago in a more direct version of the Zach LaVine trade.
With no Fox, the Spurs close out Game 4. His veteran presence stabilized them enough during the regular season, but he was an active detriment towards the end of their playoff run. Taking him away from San Antonio allows Harper to explode into stardom.
The Knicks barely won in real life in Game 5 with a Herculean Brunson effort, smelling blood in the water, and a stinker from Fox. Remove the last two? Knicks in 5 becomes Spurs in 5.
No Fox, no Brown, an entire series is flipped on its head.
And it all dates back to this one niche moment back in December 2024. What happens from here?
The Spurs are NBA champions and a dynasty in the making. The coronation of Victor Wembanyama is underway, so that NBA2k cover actually makes sense now.
For the Knicks? Everything changes. They retain Jenkins after a Finals run, but Leon Rose feels the pressure knowing there are two Western Conference juggernauts that are heads and shoulders above the rest of the NBA.
Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns are shipped to Milwaukee for Giannis Antetokounmpo in a desperation move. We’re so close, and these two haven’t fit in their two years here; let’s make a Big 3 for the ages. Remember, there were reports that the Bucks were hoping that the Knicks lost the Finals so that they’d get more aggressive in pursuing him.
But it doesn’t end there. Remember the beginning of the LeBron saga when Rich Paul met with Max Kellerman to discuss the future of his client?
That’s right. After a three-week process, LeBron James signs with the New York Knicks, not the Philadelphia 76ers, teaming up with Brunson and Antetokounmpo to try and end a 54-year drought. It’s as all-in as a team has ever been in NBA history.
So that’s the landscape. The Spurs are champions. Fox is a Chicago Bull. Mike Brown might be working at ESPN or maybe take the head coaching job in Orlando to give life to that utterly horrid offense. The Knicks have a starting lineup of Brunson-LeBron-Anunoby-Giannis-Mitch, as James Dolan goes over the second apron for one year to pursue a championship. Maybe Jaden Ivey is still in the NBA somehow.
Crazy how something so little can lead to something so big.
Read the full article here
