The New York Knicks are heading into the next season with a familiar kind of confidence: the kind that comes after a championship and usually leads teams to believe they can keep the whole thing rolling.
They just won the NBA Championship for the first time in 53 years, beating the San Antonio Spurs in five games behind Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby’s miraculous tip-in. For the most part, the plan now is simple - keep the group together and try to do it again.
That approach has looked smart on paper before. It hasn’t always worked out.
The Knicks are built around Brunson, Towns, Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, and that core just proved it can win at the highest level. Mitchell Robinson is gone in free agency, but outside of that, New York’s main pieces are still in place and most of the bench remains intact.
That’s exactly the kind of setup the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder used after their own title runs. Boston won in 2024, then brought back Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford for the 2025 season.
The result was a second-round exit at the hands of the Knicks in six games. Tatum was hurt in Game 4, but by then Boston had already coughed up huge leads and the series had tilted New York’s way.
The Thunder followed a similar path after winning in 2025. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lu Dort and others were all back. That group went deeper than Boston did, but it still came up short, losing to the Spurs in seven games in the Western Conference finals.
That’s the warning sign for New York. The Knicks have a strong roster and no obvious need for a sweeping overhaul. But the recent history around the league says that simply bringing everyone back doesn’t guarantee another run to the top.
In fact, the NBA hasn’t seen a repeat champion since the 2018 Golden State Warriors. And lately, the trend has been for title teams to run it back - just like the Knicks are doing now - only to find out that the second climb is a lot harder than the first.
New York is set up to try anyway. And that’s the same trap Boston and Oklahoma City already know too well.
In Other News...
Knicks Reward Landry Shamet With Long Term Deal After Title Run
Landry Shamets value to the Knicks went well beyond the box score during their championship run, where he gave them needed shooting and steady defense at exactly the right time. His best stretch came in the Eastern Conference Finals, when he helped stabilize the rotation and fit neatly into a team that leaned on versatility and timely shot-making all spring.
Now the Knicks have made sure that contribution is part of their longer-term plan. Shamet agreed to a four-year, $24 million contract that gives New York some security without fully locking in every season, and team president Leon Rose made clear the organization views him as more than a short-term piece after the way he helped push the club to the title. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Fans Just Learned How Much Brunson Was Really Dealing With
Jalen Brunson is headed for offseason surgery on his left wrist, a move the Knicks have been able to put off until now because of how deep their run went. The procedure is expected to keep him on the shelf for about two months, but the bigger point for New York is that the team is finally addressing an issue that had been hanging over its star guard as it pushed through the spring.
Brunson is expected to be ready by the start of next season, which matters as much as anything for a Knicks team built around his availability and steadiness. The surgery is meant to prevent the wrist from getting worse and to protect his long-term health, leaving the organization with a brief offseason concern but no reason to believe its centerpiece will miss opening night. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Already Regret This Cost Cutting Draft Decision
The Knicks spent draft night looking for savings, trading back in the 2026 NBA draft to trim rookie costs before bringing back Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet. On paper, it was a tidy bit of roster management, the kind of move that helps a team preserve flexibility while filling out the back end of the rotation. But the cost-cutting approach also meant passing on a couple of intriguing young players who fit obvious needs for a team trying to balance win-now depth with a little long-term upside.
Cameron Carr and St. John's Zuby Ejiofor have both looked the part early in Summer League, which only sharpens the question of what the Knicks gave up by moving back. New Yorks veteran-heavy roster already leaves little room for developmental mistakes, and the ripple effects of that draft-night decision could reach beyond this summer if the team keeps trying to squeeze in more proven pieces around the edges. [Read more 🡒]