The Knicks didn’t win their title quietly, and they’re not going to get treated like a sleeping giant now. After a 2026-27 championship run built on blowouts, comeback heroics, a 12-game playoff winning streak and nine straight road postseason wins, New York heads into a new season with every contender circling the date.
That kind of finish only raises the temperature. Everybody in the league wants to take a swing at the champs, and the opening months could be a grind for a team that just spent the spring climbing the hardest mountain in the sport.
The Knicks are also carrying the usual burden that comes with being the target, while a league-wide shift in incentives should make life tougher at both ends of the standings. The teams at the top are hungry, and even the clubs near the bottom are less likely to mail it in.
The early challenge is especially stark in the middle of the rotation, where Andre Drummond steps into a far bigger role than his résumé might suggest. He’s a backup on the veteran minimum, but he’s also the main proven insurance behind Karl-Anthony Towns.
Last season was a massive jump in workload for Drummond, who had played only 17 playoff games in his career before the Knicks’ run to 19 postseason games. Now he’s filling the spot left by Mitchell Robinson, and that matters.
In the 2026 regular season, Towns and Robinson shared the floor for 278 minutes and posted a +2.9 rating; in the playoffs, they logged 27 minutes together and were at +15.6. Drummond has some heavy lifting ahead of him.
The schedule doesn’t do New York any favors either. The first 14 games are loaded with tests: two matchups each with the 76ers and Cavaliers, both teams carrying big expectations and reasons to be looking for payback; two games in three days at Toronto, where the Raptors suddenly have high hopes for the first time in nearly a decade; road trips to Boston and Indiana, where the Celtics and Pacers both have something to prove; and a home date with Detroit, a team with high hopes for the first time in 20 years.
That’s the backdrop for a team that has seen the value of a fast start firsthand. In the first 10 games of 2025, the Knicks lost to Boston, Cleveland and Indiana - the two East teams that finished above them and the club that eventually knocked them out.
Then last season opened differently. New York beat the Celtics and Cavaliers in its first two games, then went on to finish 9-2 against those two teams, including a sweep of Cleveland in the conference finals.
So the early read this time around is clear enough: the path looks rough. If New York stumbles out of the gate, there’s still plenty of season left. If it catches fire again, the rest of the league may start wondering whether the 2018 Warriors have finally stopped being just a trivia answer.
In Other News...
Knicks Frontcourt Plan Still Feels Unsettled After Dallas Center Drama
The Mavericks frontcourt picture took another turn when Dallas waived veteran center Dwight Powell before the roster cutdown deadline, easing a situation that had already been complicated by the clubs decision to match a two-year offer sheet for restricted free agent Moussa Ciss. Ciss had been viewed as a possible casualty if the Mavericks needed to keep Powell around, which made the move worth watching for teams around the league, including the Knicks, who had shown interest in the young center.
For New York, the ripple effect matters because the Knicks already settled on James Wiseman as their third-string center, leaving their own depth chart unchanged for now. Still, the fact that Ciss was even in the conversation underscores how unsettled the back end of the frontcourt can be this time of year, and it keeps the door open for more movement if another opportunity presents itself. [Read more 🡒]
Embiid Just Added More Heat To The Knicks Ring Night
Joel Embiid has already made clear where he plans to be when the Knicks stage their championship ring night, and it will not be courtside. The Philadelphia star said he does not intend to watch New York receive its rings and expects to stay in the locker room during the ceremony, a small but very real layer of edge for a game that was already going to carry some extra emotion.
The broader backdrop is just as important for the Knicks, because the opponent they need to get ready for is not the usual one. This matchup will come against a different 76ers roster that includes LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, which means New York has plenty to sort through beyond the pregame ceremony and Embiid's stance on it. For a team trying to keep the focus on basketball, the night already has enough noise around it. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Chose Size Over Bruce Brown For One Telling Reason
With their 14-man roster now set, the Knicks made a clear bet on structure over familiarity, waiving veteran guard Bruce Brown and bringing in James Wiseman instead. It was the kind of late-summer roster choice that says plenty about what a team thinks it still needs, and Mike Brown made clear the appeal of Wiseman had as much to do with the overall shape of the roster as it did with any one players rsum.
Brown pointed to Wisemans youth, athleticism and fit in the big man rotation, a clue that New York wanted another body with size in a spot where depth can disappear quickly over a long season. Bruce Browns versatility and track record still made him a meaningful option, but the Knicks ultimately chose positional balance and frontcourt insurance, leaving one final roster spot to reflect a bigger priority than simply keeping a proven veteran on hand. [Read more 🡒]