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Last year’s playoffs might have only been an appetizer. 

The postseason brought out a new version of the Knicks offense — one that fueled a historically dominant championship run. But it was born out of desperation, a change made on the fly after they fell to a 2-1 series deficit in the first round against the Hawks. Now, the Knicks have a full training camp and preseason to practice and experiment with it. 

And, ideally, take it to a new level. 

“I feel like we can do a lot more, do a lot of different things,” Jalen Brunson said after the first Knicks practice of the season Tuesday. “I think we unlocked something last year in the playoffs at a time of need and it worked. It’s gonna be fun to kind of integrate it from the beginning of the season, too.” 

The most important change was the well-documented decision to alter how they used Karl-Anthony Towns in the offense — having him serve as a “hub” at the elbows and facilitate with the ball in his hands. It allowed Brunson to play a bit more off the ball and took some of the playmaking burden off his shoulders. It amplified Towns’ prowess as a passer — in turn dragging opposing centers out of the paint — and also allowed OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges to thrive as cutters and screen setters around Towns. The Knicks’ offensive efficiency exploded as a result. 

That role for Towns will continue to be a focal point going into this year, with a few potential new twists. 

“Obviously playing with KAT at the elbow a little bit more than what we did [in the regular season last year],” coach Mike Brown said Tuesday. “Being with this group for a year now, you get a better feel of what players can do what. Like I didn’t know if OG could be as effective as he was in the pick-and-roll game. Same with Mikal. So to try to continue to find ways to get those guys involved at the top of the floor is something that we’ll take a look at. 

“We have great cutters that have tremendous size. We’ll continue to mix that in, and we all know that KAT is a really good facilitator at the elbow. Maybe Andre [Drummond] is too? I don’t know. Maybe we move OG to the five a little bit more than what we did last year. So there are a lot of different ways we can go with the team on both ends of the floor. The biggest thing is knowing that nothing’s set in stone.” 

Those potential new roles for Anunoby and Bridges are particularly interesting. Brown’s system for most of last year emphasized Anunoby and Bridges staying in the corners for kick-out 3-pointers — or as Brown calls them, “sprays.” Bridges and Anunoby led the NBA in corner 3-point attempts during the regular season last year, taking 199 and 198, respectively, per the league’s official tracking stats. It was a core tenet of the Knicks offense. 

But both grew as ball handlers and slashers — creating their own shots — during the playoffs. Anunoby, in particular, at times carried the offense, showing an ability to score off the dribble and delivering some of the best production of his career. 

Maybe letting him spend time away from the corners and in the middle of the floor can help bring out the best version of him — an All-Star-caliber version. The idea of increasingly using Anunoby as a small-ball center is also notable given Drummond is the only backup center behind Towns that is a lock to make the roster. 

“There’s a lot that will carry over for this year. We’ll also experiment with some new things here and there, but the stuff that we had in the playoffs may not work during the regular season. So we have to be ready to evolve or pivot as the year goes along and hopefully come close to playoff time, we’re trending upwards so that we feel we’re in a pretty good spot with the confidence needed to take off from there.” 

That ability to adapt is critical. It only happened because a veteran-heavy group was willing to come together and adjust their own roles for the greater good. It hinged on a close-knit team’s ability to communicate honestly and openly. 

“I think as a group, we figured out that we need each other to win, obviously, and we need each other to be on the same page,” Brunson said. “You never know when things are going to turn for you, when things are gonna click for you. But as long as you keep putting the work in every single day, you keep tapping the rock, tapping the rock, eventually it’s going to break.” 

Now, there’s a new rock to tap. 

It’s hard to imagine a better version of basketball than the playoff finish by the Knicks: 13 wins in the final 14 games — several in utterly dominant fashion. 

But as the encore got underway this week at the Tarrytown practice facility, coach Mike Brown twice pumped the brakes on the idea that the steamroll will persist. At Monday’s Media Day, he cautioned that adversity is inevitable.

The Knicks certainly experienced that during a 2-9 stretch last season in January. 

And after Tuesday’s first practice, the championship coach acknowledged the impossibility of maintaining the near perfection of the playoffs. 

“We’re not playing at that level for 82 games,” Brown said. “You know, we played at a pretty high level, and … that’s not going to happen over 82 games. You know, for me, the 82-game season is about trying to find your way.” 

Indeed, the Knicks aren’t predicted to smash any regular-season records. The East is too good and the veteran Knicks have clearly learned about pacing toward a sprint finish. A year ago, the young Thunder were coming off a championship and quickly threatened 70 victories (amid injuries, Oklahoma City finished with a 64-18 record). New York’s Over/Under for wins this season is in the low to mid-50s, depending on the sportsbook. 

Part of the early adjustment will be trying to recapture the efficiency of an offense with Karl-Anthony Towns as the hub, a strategy that will become more difficult to implement when the opposition studies enough film to counter. The Knicks benefited from the element of surprise during the playoffs. They also weren’t dealing with tense contract negotiations — a reality facing the Knicks now, as extensions for Towns, Josh Hart and Miles McBride remain unoffered or unsigned. 

“You don’t want that trickling into the season. Because whenever there’s uncertainty, there’s gonna be a lot of questions, there’s gonna be a lot of rumors,” Hart said. “At a human level, sometimes that can wear people down, and it can affect how you go out and handle business on a day-to-day basis.” 

Another potential early hurdle, at least for the start of the season, is a rusty Jalen Brunson. The star point guard is coming off left wrist surgery that disrupted his typical summer routine. 

“I don’t want to say I’m catching up,” Brunson said. “I feel good, but also I know that it wasn’t just my normal summer.” 

Surgery to his left hand two years ago — after he fractured it in Game 7 of the 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Pacers — was less of a hindrance because the rehab started earlier in the offseason (his procedure was in May). This time, Brunson didn’t know surgery was necessary until July. 

“I was shooting earlier [two years ago] than I was this time. I was in a cast longer this time than I was before when I broke my hand,” Brunson said. “Plus it was a little bit earlier, I think I got surgery right after it happened [two years ago]. I didn’t get surgery for my wrist until like three weeks later because I didn’t know it was a necessity.” 

It was also a once-in-a-lifetime type of summer for Brunson, who didn’t shy from the off-the-court limelight and opportunities that come with ending a 53-year title drought. He found it hard to relax. 

“It exceeded expectations, honestly,” Brunson said about being a champ in NYC. “Winning in New York was no joke. It was a really cool experience. … Have I decompressed at all? Not really. I’m gonna be honest with you, not really. But I’ve had times where I had time to relax. I enjoyed that. I spent time getting away from everything. Most times, it was rehabbing. Once I was out of the cast and cleared, I had obligations I had to go through, so I did all of that. But I feel good. And I know where to go to get to my happy place. I know where to go when I need to decompress. I’m good.” 

Brunson was obviously more than “good” in the playoffs. He was extraordinary. So were the Knicks. But they’re not making that the regular-season baseline. 

“We’re gonna face new challenges throughout the course of the year. We’re gonna hit adversity, which, you know I said this last year, we’re gonna embrace it,” Brown said, “but we’re gonna hit adversity in an 82-game season.”

The hole left by LeBron James’ departure is a wide-stretching one within the Lakers.

On the court, the team will have to replace roughly 20 points, six rebounds and five assists per game along with the intangible impact he had on a nightly basis. Off the court, and perhaps more to that point about the intangibles, the leadership void will likely be the biggest.

No matter what his role or status was during games, LeBron was The Guy for the Lakers. He was the star around which all others orbited. Even if the team was moving into the Luka Dončić era, LeBron was still, at the very least, a leader of the team.

His departure, then, leaves a massive leadership void that the pair of Luka and Austin Reaves will be tasked with filling this season. For Luka, it’s a role he’s very familiar with. For Austin, it’s unchartered waters.

“People lead in different ways,” Austin said on Monday at Media Day. “I’m not someone that’s going to sit out here and scream at people. I like to talk to people one-on-one, have a real conversation. That way, people will never feel like I’m trying to embarrass them in front of people.

“If it’s practice, whenever we have a down period of time, pulling people to the side, talking to them about what I see, what I think they can do better. Just trying to give everybody my input and how I see things to help them moving forward.”

It’s not necessarily a natural role for Austin, who has spent much of his basketball career scrapping for his spot even before entering the league. Rarely are former two-way players ever looked upon as leaders, but it’s even rarer for two-way players to earn the nearly max deal that Austin Reaves got this summer.

Big contracts bring big expectations. Reaves can no longer be The Other Guy on a roster, hiding behind Luka or LeBron.

“I think he improved a lot,” Luka said of Austin’s leadership. “He talks more to a lot of people. Obviously, the new players, they’re going to look up to him, asking things. I think he took a big step forward.”

As for Luka himself, while this is a new role for him in the purple and gold, it’s one he’s very familiar with. Not only was he the leader in Dallas from an early age, but even his time in Europe as a teenager saw a lot placed on his shoulders.

“I was in this position in my career a lot of times, so it’s not new to me,” Luka said. “But I feel great. I feel excited and, like I said, I’m ready to go. It’s been a long time since I’ve played basketball so I’m ready.”

The often-goofy, always-competitive duo might not be seen as natural leaders, but the Lakers are banking on that competitiveness to be the driving force.

“Obviously, together, they’re immature,” Jarred Vanderbilt said. “But the maturity level, I’ve seen it rise since I’ve been here and seen both of them together. They know that there’s a lot that comes with the position that they’re in.

“I think with both of them, they’ve done a great job of, in their own rights, cultivating the culture and showing the new guys the way.”

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.

Walker Kessler wasn’t focused on the stats. He wasn’t really counting the number of shots he swatted — “one or two” — or lobs he dunked — “like four probably” — in his official Lakers practice debut Tuesday.

The only thing the star center cared about was the competition on the court. He and his teammates delivered on that, Kessler said with a smile.

The Lakers opened training camp Tuesday with a focus on competition as the new-look team takes shape. Six of the team’s top nine players from last season are gone. A month’s worth of practices and five preseason games are the stage as players audition to fill the vacant roles.

“This is a meritocracy,” coach JJ Redick said. “You got to earn your minutes, and you cheer for your teammates while you’re doing it.”

Redick can confidently lock in three starters in Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Kessler. The other two starting positions, and even the last spots on the roster as the Lakers need to trim at least one player to reach the NBA-maximum of 15 guaranteed contracts by the Oct. 21 season opener, remain up for grabs.

That’s how players prefer things.

Read more:Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves ready to take charge of new-look Lakers

“Everybody has something to prove,” forward Sandro Mamukelashvili said at media day Monday. “Everybody’s very excited for the season. The guys are hard workers.”

Mamukelashvili, praised for his versatility and ability to be what Redick called “a connector” on offense, is in the mix for the starting power forward position along with Jake LaRavia, Jarred Vanderbilt and Ziaire Williams. The stiffest competition comes on the wing, where the Lakers lauded their depth between offseason additions Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Matisse Thybulle and Williams, rookie Cameron Carr and progressing second-year forward Adou Thiero.

Redick said he has tried to give players clearly defined roles for them to earn minutes, and the depth of the wing group makes for a minuscule difference between fulfilling those requirements to stay on the court and falling short and sitting on the bench. After one day, Redick proudly reported the group “understood the assignment.”

“That was exciting,” Redick said. “They set the tone for us defensively. There was a lot of physicality, a lot of grabbing and holding, a lot of disruption without gambling.”

After general manager Rob Pelinka reset the roster to match the timelines for the 27-year-old Doncic and 28-year-old Reaves, the group of almost all 20-somethings was eager and receptive to the first day of camp, Redick said. Players who were not participating in live play still peppered coaches with questions.

Redick, entering his third season as a head coach, relished the buy-in and interest from the young team.

Read more:How a healthy and motivated Walker Kessler could transform the Lakers' defense

“In terms of myself, the teaching part of it was something that I’ve maybe grown a little bit since like the very first practice I coached two years ago,” Redick said. “It’s a little different now.”

Last season, the Lakers relied on vocal veteran leaders such as LeBron James, 41, and Marcus Smart, 32. Now they have just one player in his 30s: That’s 30-year-old Kevon Looney, who smiled at the thought that he is suddenly the elder statesman of the team.

While Redick has emphasized the importance of Doncic and Reaves growing into larger leadership roles, Redick still set the tone from the coaching staff for the first day of practice.

“In film, I was ready to go fight somebody or something,” Kessler said, raising his fists with a smile. “He’s such a good motivator. He’s incredible. He’s really incredible. Having someone that’s done it for 15 years playing and now three years coaching, it’s easy to see why he’s so successful.”

Beyer retires

Lakers assistant coach Bob Beyer retired this offseason, Redick confirmed Tuesday. The longtime assistant was a key part of Redick’s coaching staff when the first-time head coach was hired. Redick played for five seasons under Beyer in Orlando and then again in New Orleans.

“He’s, like, someone I explicitly trust and believe in,” Redick said. “He’s an incredible teacher. He was an incredible mentor for a lot of our young coaches and an incredible example.”

JJ Redick on assistant coach Bob Beyer's retirement this offseason: "He's an incredible teacher. He was an incredible mentor for a lot of our young coaches and an incredible example." pic.twitter.com/De2pFaXyrl

— Thuc Nhi Nguyen (@thucnhi21) September 29, 2026

While the retirement took Redick by surprise because Beyer shared the news late in the offseason, Redick said he understood the reasons. The 64-year-old Beyer joked he was “basically retired” by the time Redick called with the Lakers’ job in 2024. Two seasons later, he was ready to retire for good.

“He’s a legend,” Redick said. “We all love him. We’re so appreciative of everything you did for us.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Let’s get it Dub Nation. As training camp begins and the Golden State Warriors are getting back into the swing of things, I’m continuing my review of what the rest of the NBA has done, division by division.

We’re still in the Atlantic Division right now, and I’ve already covered the Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors. Next up on the list is the Brooklyn Nets, fresh off of winning their third straight title with the super trio of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden.

Wait wait, you mean to tell me those three stars have been gone for hella long and the franchise is a wasteland that hasn’t won anything since Dr. J was playing? Whoaaa.

Last season the Warriors went 2-0 against Brooklyn. On December 29th at Barclays, Golden State won 120-107. The rematch at Chase on March 25 was tighter, 109-106, and the leading scorer was Gui Santos with a career-high 31. Santos detonating on Brooklyn was a pretty clear indicator of how badly the non-Knicks New York team was spiraling.

These guys eventually collapsed to a 20-62 finish as their season mercifully ended. Brooklyn walked into the summer trying to figure out a new identity, which can be an exciting thing! But perpetual rebuild mode is enough to break the hearts of even the most hardened fanbase. I wonder if the Nets are ready to play an inspired brand of basketball that would keep all of their supporters from burning their jerseys and bandwagoning the champion orange and blue of their neighbors.

Nicolas Claxton left for Chicago, Ziaire Williams went to the Lakers, and the draft brought in Mikel Brown Jr., Joshua Jefferson and Tyler Bilodeau. Also, financial freedom! Isn’t that what everybody wants if you’re not winning championships?? Per Nets Daily:

Who can forget flexibility!?! To recap, Brooklyn still has $4.9 million in cap space, the $9.4 million room exception, the full $8.5 million in cash considerations plus 32 draft picks. You know the math … or should by now! 13 firsts, 10 of which can be traded, and 19 seconds, all of which can be traded. And at the moment, no Nets player has a contract that extends beyond 2027-28.

And then they traded for Julius Randle.

CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn was confused too:

Brooklyn’s front office probably faces the biggest disparity between perception and reality of any in basketball. The prevailing narrative surrounding the Nets is that they’ve been poorly run and their outlook is bleak. True, they haven’t yet found any truly foundational players, but they have a clean cap sheet and a six-pick first-round draft surplus (not including swaps, though in fairness they owe their 2027 swap to the Houston Rockets). The reality is that this is a pretty promising blank slate if you’re willing to take the long view.

The Julius Randle addition makes no sense. He’s an expensive floor-raiser in his 30s. The Nets don’t need their floor raised. They don’t control their own pick this year, so the relegation zone isn’t a concern. He overlaps positionally with Michael Porter Jr. (whom they have neither traded nor extended, strangely). He’ll take the ball out of the hands of their many young players who need it.

I gotta admit, I do enjoy seeing Michael Porter Jr. pull up with zero conscience and fire up shots from beyond the arc like a real flamethrower. It reminds me of Klay Thompson sometimes; except less accurate. I can see a world where certain nights MPJ and Randle thrive off inferior defenders and light up the scoreboard. I also am curious to see how the Nets win games if they aren’t both clicking. But is Porter Jr. really just trade bait for a potential contender?

Per Sports Illustrated, here’s MPJ’s thoughts on the topic: “I’ve voiced that I’d love to be in Brooklyn and that I’m enjoying playing with these guys. And I think we’ll be a lot better this year, obviously. … The way these young guys have gotten better just in one year, I’m excited to see what we can do. So that’s where my mind is at and I’m not even thinking about anything else.”

I’ve seen the Nets take two major swings at the title in the last dozen or so years. There was the time they assembled Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, and Joe Johnson for an aging superteam back in 2013. Then there was that KD-Kyrie-Harden trio that the pandemic and injuries washed away. To see this franchise struggling while their NY neighbors guzzle championship champagne shows just how close despair and success live.

I expect the Warriors to give these guys the business when they meet this season. And with how stacked their division is, it’s gonna be tough to make some noise. They’ve got the athletic Toronto Raptors, the chip-on-their-shoulder Boston Celtics, and the new and improved Philadelphia 76ers all staring down at them in the standings. And whenever Brooklyn needs a break from looking up at the division, it can glance across the East River and watch the Knicks hang a banner.

Have fun with that, Brooklyn.

When the Lakers opened training camp with their first practice on Tuesday in El Segundo, there were a lot of new faces inside the building. 

And many familiar faces were nowhere to be seen.

Gone were LeBron James, the league’s all-time leading scorer who spent eight seasons in Los Angeles before joining the 76ers.

Same with Rui Hachimura, who spent 3 ½ seasons with the Lakers before joining the Clippers, as well as Marcus Smart, Deandre Ayton, Luke Kennard and Jaxson Hayes, all of whom played important roles for the Lakers’ playoff series victory over the Rockets in the spring. 

Enter nine new players on the Lakers’ roster and a lot of new possibilities as the franchise fully establishes itself in the Luka Doncic era.

Doncic lobs to marquee free-agent addition Walker Kessler? Check, with Kessler saying Doncic threw him around four lobs on Tuesday, quickly establishing a connection. 

“It was great,” Doncic said. “We had a lot of fun, a lot of teaching points, and everybody I think felt that it was like it was a great first day.”

The beginning of a battle for two of the Lakers’ open starting spots? Check, with the team’s wings competing for minutes establishing the defensive physicality during the first practice.

“We went after it from Day 1,” Kessler said. “So it’s fantastic.” 

Outside of the new faces, which included shakeups on coach JJ Redick’s staff after longtime assistant coach Bob Beyer’s retirement, the first practice of camp didn’t look much different than it did during Redick’s first two years as coach. 

The installs and teaching for this portion of preseason will look the same, with Redick acknowledging his growth as a teacher, continuing to build off the small-group sessions players had in August and throughout September. 

The excitement for what this new group can be is palpable.

“They are a very receptive group, eager group,” Redick said. “Even a couple of the guys that sat out a portion of the live play were constantly asking questions, and they want information. and they want to learn and they want to be better.”

And there’s also clear goals for camp ahead of the first preseason game against the Kings in Sacramento on Monday: establish their defensive principles, continue to establish their early offense (which was their main priority for all of September) and get in “great shape.” 

“We’ve gotten terrific buy-in over the last several weeks,” Redick said, “and [Tuesday] was very additive to those three things.”

But with so many new faces in the building, it led to a key question: Are there ways to fast-track on-court chemistry so everyone’s in sync when the games start to count beginning with Opening Night against the Warriors in three weeks (Oct. 21)?

“That’s a hard question — I honestly don’t know,” Doncic said. “Some things [we’re] going to figure out quicker; some things are going to [be figured] out later. I feel like we had a great first practice. A lot of teaching points. It was a great practice.”

And for now, that’s all Tuesday needed to be. 

With a lighter preseason schedule compared with the previous year (five exhibitions instead of six), the Lakers will have more time to work out the kinks that could come with such drastic roster turnover. 

Their teamwide trip to Slovenia, which Doncic led, helped fast-track the players’ connections with each other.

And that connection, which was felt on Tuesday, already has most of them believing they can compete with not just the best teams in the Western Conference but throughout the NBA.

“No question — undoubtedly,” Kessler responded when asked whether the Lakers can be NBA title contenders. “We have a lot of great tools and a lot of versatility. The guys are already getting along. Connection makes championship teams, and we definitely could be a contender.”

Like Redick mentioned last week, no team is a championship-level team on Sept. 29. 

And they likely won’t be on Sept. 30, either. 

The journey to becoming a contender is an ongoing process that lasts from the early fall all the way through the following spring. 

But the Lakers felt great about Tuesday being a step forward in that process. 

Which is all that the first practice needed to provide.