The Knicks have every reason to enjoy what they just pulled off. But the Denver Nuggets are a reminder that in the NBA, a title doesn’t buy you much time if you treat the roster like it can run forever.
Denver won the 2023 championship with Nikola Jokic, a three-time MVP, and Jamal Murray, who is now an All-Star point guard, driving the whole thing. That core still looks familiar three years later. Aaron Gordon remains in the starting group, Christian Braun has taken on a bigger role, and the team’s most notable internal success story was Peyton Watson, the Nuggets’ most prolific - and admittedly rare - example of development.
Then Watson signed with the Cleveland Cavaliers just as he started to break through, and the whole offseason looked worse for it. Denver is now in financial limbo, with little room to add real help and a first-round exit in 2025-26 looming over the roster. A team that once seemed built to dominate around Jokic has now gone out in the second round or earlier in three straight seasons, with not much obvious wiggle room to change course.
That’s the part the Knicks need to take seriously. It is too early to say they are headed for the same fate, but the warning signs are real: huge contracts, an owner unwilling to go into the second apron, and extensions on the horizon.
The money alone tells the story. Karl-Anthony Towns will make $57,078,728 in 2026-27 before becoming eligible for free agency next summer. OG Anunoby is owed $42.5 million in 2026-27 and $45,431,034 in 2027-28, and has a player option worth $48,362,068 for the 2028-29 campaign.
Mikal Bridges is under contract through 2028-29 with a player option for 2029-30, carrying guaranteed salaries of $33,482,145, $36,160,714, and $38,839,285.
Then there’s Jalen Brunson. His salary is set at $37,739,521 for 2026-27 and $40,535,041 for 2027-28, and he becomes eligible for free agency in 2028. Put that together with the rest of the payroll, and “stay the course” starts sounding a lot more complicated.
The Knicks have earned the right to celebrate what they’ve done. They just can’t mistake that for proof the window will stay open on its own.
Injuries happen. Other teams improve.
The breaks stop going your way. That’s the league.
New York also has a limited pipeline of internal development, little financial flexibility to land meaningful additions, and Miles McBride on the final year of his deal. That’s how windows tighten fast. Denver is living that reality now, and the Milwaukee Bucks are another example - a team that lost Giannis Antetokounmpo five years after winning what looked like the first of several titles, only to find out it was the only one.
For the Knicks, the next stretch matters. As the 2026-27 season moves along, the tough calls around the core will come into focus. How they handle those decisions will shape Brunson’s prime.
In Other News...
Knicks Built The Easts New Blueprint Before Winning Anything
The Knicks reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2025 and still came up short of ending the franchises long championship drought, falling to the Pacers after a spring that had already made them one of the leagues most talked-about teams. Their run included a win over the Celtics in the previous round, a series shaped in part by Jayson Tatums injury, but it also reflected something bigger than one playoff bracket: a roster built around size, switchability and wings who could survive the modern East.
New Yorks front office spent years leaning into that template by adding versatile pieces such as Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, and the league has taken notice. The Knicks may not have won the conference, but the approach has already started to spread, with teams like the Cavaliers looking at similar roster construction as the path to better matchup options against Boston and the Easts top tier. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Brunson Debate Just Got More Frustrating For Knicks Fans
The latest round of player-ranking chatter has put Jalen Brunson right back in the middle of the kind of debate Knicks fans know all too well. In a social media video, NBA analyst Michelle Beadle worked through a list of stars and made some choices that will feel familiar to anyone who has watched the league try to sort out where Brunson belongs among the games best guards and wings.
Beadle had Brunson above Luka Doncic, Anthony Edwards, Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker, which is enough to keep the argument lively on its own. But she also slid other names ahead of him in a way that will irritate New York supporters, especially after Brunson just finished leading the Knicks to an NBA championship and backing it up with elite production in both the regular season and postseason. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Keep A Bench Piece They Could Not Afford To Lose
Landry Shamet gave the Knicks exactly the kind of bench help contenders spend all year trying to find, and now the club has decided it could not afford to let that lane disappear. The veteran guard supplied reliable shooting, helped stretch the floor and gave New York another offensive option behind the starters, all while fitting neatly into a rotation that increasingly values spacing and calm shot-making.
His regular season fit was strong enough to make the decision easy, with 9.3 points per game and 39.2% shooting from deep underscoring why the front office wanted him back. For a Knicks team built around depth and versatility, keeping a proven catch-and-shoot presence matters, especially when the margins tighten and every stable bench piece starts to look more important than the box score suggests. [Read more 🡒]