The Knicks’ title run came with a strange kind of timing advantage: they won just as the NBA’s new rules start making it much tougher to build a team this way again.
New York finally snapped a 53-year championship drought in Mike Brown’s first season on the job, and it happened with a roster that barely fit the usual blueprint. Leon Rose turned over a 21-win team in five years and guided it to a title in six, but the path was anything but standard. The Knicks became the second team in NBA history to win it all with a starting lineup that didn’t include a single player they drafted themselves.
That matters now more than ever. With the league rolling out the second apron and a new draft lottery system, teams will have a harder time assembling contender-level talent unless they hit big in the draft. The Knicks may have built their contender right before the door starts closing behind everyone else.
The result also fits into a wider league trend. New York’s championship made it the eighth different NBA champion in the last eight seasons, another sign of how much the league has tried to spread talent around. And if you look at the Knicks’ starting group, there’s another clue to how unusual this team is: a starting five made up entirely of players between 29 and 31 years old, all signed at least through next season.
On the Third Apron podcast, co-hosts Yossi Gozlan and Sam Quinn discussed Quinn’s twice-yearly front office rankings for CBS Sports, where the Oklahoma City Thunder and Boston Celtics had been at the top throughout the list’s existence. New York’s championship was enough to move Rose’s front office into second place, bumping out the group led by Brad Stevens that had just signed Mitchell Robinson in free agency.
Gozlan used the moment to explain how the league’s effort to redistribute talent is changing the way teams operate.
"Statistically, this Knicks team had one of the best playoff runs ever. Rarely can you see teams build like this.
And now the league's changing the rules with the draft, making it so much harder. They're trying to spread the talent so hopefully more teams can build like this.
But, you really need to know who to target. Teams are trying to lock up all their players now with extensions," Gozlan explained.
New York still has a couple of contract questions to settle. Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart are both signed through the 2026-27 season, and each has an option for 2027-28. Hart’s option gives the decision to the Knicks, while Towns’ does not.
After a championship, though, it’s easy to see why the Knicks would want to keep this group together. They’ve earned that much. And once the starting five is locked in for the long haul, Brown’s team can turn its attention to the only thing that matters now: trying to do it again.
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Knicks Have An Under-The-Radar Center Option Worth Watching
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Reaths NBA path has been uneven since a strong rookie year, with his production trending down over three seasons, but there is still some intrigue here because he is reportedly healthy after foot surgery. He has also been seen working out with other players as he prepares for the upcoming season, which keeps the door open on whether the Knicks view him as more than just an emergency option. [Read more 🡒]