What are the Knicks? 

They are, as an old soccer fan named Winston Churchill once said, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” They believe, as an old crooner named Bob Dylan once sang, that “the line it is drawn, the curse it is cast, the slow one now, will later be fast.” 

They believe, as a professional playmaker named Jalen Brunson said, that “we are transitioning. We are getting better every day and finding ways to keep pushing each other. We can’t be complacent. Even when we win, we have to learn from wins, so we just have to keep that mindset.” 

They can be, as a coach named Tom Thibodeau said, “as good as we want to be, but it’s going to take some buy-in and some work, and I don’t think we have any players who have a problem with either of those things.” 

So when the Knicks gather Wednesday night in Memphis to greet the new season … well, honestly, everything is in play. Anything is in play. The addition of one key player — Brunson — has helped recalibrate the way they look on both ends of the floor. The retention of another important player — RJ Barrett — has helped pour more concrete into a foundation that feels as sturdy as it has in years. 

The Knicks who kick off this season should be legitimately better than the team that ended last season at a disappointing 37-45, 11th in the Eastern Conference. But it’s hard to know precisely what “legitimately better” truly means. Forty-one wins? Forty-five? Qualifying for the play-in round? Eking into the main playoff draw? 

Higher? 

Lower? 

Who are the Knicks? What are the Knicks? 

“We all have something to prove,” Barrett said early in training camp. “We all have a chip on our shoulder. We’re all working extremely hard every day to go out there to prove ourselves. 

“If we can collectively come in every day the right way and play together — offensively, defensively, everything clicks — then we can do something special. I still feel that and still believe that.” 

The Knicks did mostly look impressive during a 3-1 preseason in which they played three teams (Indiana, Washington, Detroit) that likely will occupy the lower third of the conference standings this season. The quality of opponent in these games is less important than the quantity of reps the players get together, and using that as a measuring stick one thing seems certain: The starting five will be a fun watch. 

That five includes Brunson, the jewel of the summer, whose mere presence allows the Knicks to run more of a functioning offense than they did at just about any point last season after Derrick Rose went down. It includes the Garden’s favorite son, Barrett, who seems to have found still another gear after two years of significant improvement, and Julius Randle, who seems eager to prove last season’s difficulties were an outlier for him. 

Mitchell Robinson, re-signed this summer, remains an intriguing presence in the middle, and he closed the preseason with exactly the kind of game — 20 points, 12 rebounds, a couple of blocks — that has kept the Knicks dreaming for years. And whenever Evan Fournier channels the best version of himself, it stretches the Knicks’ weaponry on offense significantly. 

“Our starters have played well,” Thibodeau said. “You can see them growing together and trusting one another on both ends of the floor.” 

It has been the bench that has caused some concern, though the most intriguing parts — Rose, Obi Toppin, Immanuel Quickley, Isaiah Hartenstein and Quentin Grimes — also can make it into a strength. 

Who are the Knicks? What are the Knicks? 

That will be the interesting part of this season. That will be the fun part. Expectations, such as they are, seem far more measured this year than last because there’s so much less to live up to. The last time that happened was two years ago, and the Knicks thrived in that role, disproving skeptics across an entire regular season of overachievement. 

Who are they? What are they? One thing seems certain. You’ll want to watch as much as possible, so you can answer those questions with your own discerning eyes. It should be an enjoyable exercise.