{"id":69581,"date":"2025-06-01T05:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T05:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/69581\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T05:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T05:43:09","slug":"jalen-brunson-response-to-question-about-tom-thibodeaus-future-video-new-york-knicks-loss-to-indiana-pacers-future-direction-trades-karl-anthony-towns-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/69581\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Brunson response to question about Tom Thibodeau\u2019s future, video, New York Knicks loss to Indiana Pacers, future, direction, trades, Karl-Anthony Towns, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson says he\u2019s \u201coverconfident\u201d about the team\u2019s chances of going the next step in the future after getting eliminated from the Eastern Conference Finals. <\/p>\n

And Brunson baulked at the idea that coach Tom Thibodeau wouldn\u2019t be the man to guide the Knicks to the next level, however questions of Karl-Anthony Towns\u2019 future are sure to be raised. <\/p>\n

So is change coming in New York?<\/p>\n

Watch every game of The NBA Finals LIVE with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.<\/p>\n

Sun, 01 Jun<\/p>\n

Sunday June 1st<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Knicks\u2019 season is over after Sunday\u2019s Game 6 loss to Indiana<\/a> saw the Pacers advance to the NBA Finals for a showdown with Oklahoma City Thunder.<\/p>\n

It marked New York\u2019s first conference finals appearances in 25 years in what should widely be viewed as a successful season.<\/p>\n

It came after the Knicks went chips in on this roster by trading for the likes of Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby over the last 18 months. <\/p>\n

Tyrese “gone MAD” – Insane 3-point shot! | 00:34<\/p>\n

Brunson was asked by a reporter after the Game 6 loss to Indiana if he thinks Thibodeau is \u201cthe guy to lift you to the next level?\u201d<\/p>\n

The star point guard responded: \u201cIs that a real question right now? Did you just ask me if I believe if he\u2019s the right guy? Yes. C\u2019mon,\u201d before exiting the press conference.<\/p>\n

Thibodeau has guided the Knicks to four playoff appearances in four seasons since taking over the head coaching job in the 2020\/21 season including consecutive 50-plus win campaigns.<\/p>\n

However there\u2019s been criticism of Thibodeau playing his starters too many minutes \u2014 although his side was fully healthy in the playoffs \u2014 and not having a big enough rotation. The Knicks also had just the 13th-ranked defensive rating this season, despite being an offensive juggernaut. <\/p>\n

According to a report by the Athletic\u2019s James L. Edwards III and Fred Katz<\/a>, the Knicks coaching staff was \u201ccautious of its future\u201d this playoffs and aware there could\u2019ve been \u201cchanges\u201d if they\u2019d lost to Detroit in the first round or Boston in the second round.<\/p>\n

That report also states: \u201cThe coach has the backing of team president Leon Rose, league sources said, as well as full buy-in from Brunson, who signed with the Knicks in 2022 in part because he wanted to play for Thibodeau. But ultimately, owner James Dolan is the final decision-maker.\u201d<\/p>\n

“You good bro… who is this guy?!” | 00:50<\/p>\n

Following Sunday\u2019s disappointing loss, Thibodeau admitted the Knicks faced a critical off-season. <\/p>\n

\u201cLike you would do after every season, you take a step back, I think decompress, you do a deep dive on the team, and then you analyse what you think you need to improve upon. … it\u2019s a big offseason for us,\u201d Thibodeau said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Towns\u2019 future is likely to be a hot topic over the off-season and whether he\u2019s the right for this team long-term. <\/p>\n

Traded from Minnesota last off-season for Julius Randle and Donte DiVinvenzo, Towns has three years remaining on his contract that runs through 2027\/2028.<\/p>\n

The 29-year old centre\u2019s defensive shortcomings has reportedly been a source of \u201cfrustration\u201d from teammates, according to the same report in the Athletic.<\/p>\n

\u201cPublicly, Knicks players made veiled comments all season about poor communication causing their inconsistencies. Behind the scenes, they and coaches expressed frustration with Towns\u2019 defensive habits \u2014 less concerned with his talent level and more with his process on that end,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo often, Towns executed incorrect coverages without communicating why he did it. After it became a theme, players worried Towns didn\u2019t grasp the importance of the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Knicks have the fourth-most expensive roster in the NBA at over $193 million and are projected to be a luxury tax team in 2025\/27.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re clearly in win-now, so will undoubtably assess all options this off-season to try and go two steps further next year.<\/p>\n

Watch this space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson says he\u2019s \u201coverconfident\u201d about the team\u2019s chances of going the next step…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69582,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1736,7,45,11859,16489,16490,296,16487,16492,10661,16491,113,126,288,3237,16488,8871,7093,16486,2740,1739,307,6,11,1136,191,1734,1740,179,5058,8544,16485,5130,1742,1416,1730,16493],"class_list":{"0":"post-69581","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-boston","11":"tag-coaching-staff","12":"tag-conference-finals-appearances","13":"tag-defining-off-season","14":"tag-detroit","15":"tag-fox-basketball","16":"tag-fred-katz","17":"tag-head-coaching-job","18":"tag-icy-response","19":"tag-indiana","20":"tag-indiana-pacers","21":"tag-jalen-brunson","22":"tag-james-dolan","23":"tag-james-l-edwards-iii","24":"tag-league-sources","25":"tag-leon-rose","26":"tag-luxury-tax-team","27":"tag-massachusetts","28":"tag-michigan","29":"tag-minnesota","30":"tag-nba","31":"tag-nba-playoffs","32":"tag-new-york","33":"tag-new-york-knicks","34":"tag-north-america","35":"tag-northern-america","36":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","37":"tag-playoff-appearances","38":"tag-press-conference","39":"tag-real-question","40":"tag-team-president","41":"tag-time-offer","42":"tag-tom-thibodeau","43":"tag-united-states-of-america","44":"tag-win-campaigns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69581\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}