Maybe this will all seem like a trifle by the end of the year — or even by the 20-game pole, after these Knicks have a chance to kick the tires on their new normal. We can use the past as a guidepost without assuming that we are slaves to it.
So maybe Jalen Brunson really will adjust flawlessly to Mike Brown’s stated intent to up the pace and keep the ball in multiple hands rather than his own. Maybe Karl-Anthony Towns really will adjust to his new role in the offense, which he was more than happy to share a few days ago openly confused him so far.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Towns said to reporters, referring to Brown’s offense, which is optimally designed for the center to be more of a focal point than the power forward, in a year when Towns is expected to play mostly the 4. “We’re figuring it out, but honestly, I just don’t know. It’s just different. We’re still figuring it out.”
Again: Change is hard, for everyone. And you could make a strong argument that change is what the Knicks players opted for when, one by one, they refused to make a strong stand in support of Tom Thibodeau during their exit interviews last spring. So change is what they get, and change is what they’ll have to adapt to.