The Knicks have already cleared one of the quieter but most important hurdles in any repeat-title chase: they’ve kept the group together.
That matters more than it sounds. New York is trying to do something the league hasn’t seen since the Golden State Warriors - win back-to-back championships - and the early signs point in a favorable direction. Even after Mitchell Robinson departed for the Boston Celtics, the Knicks still have 87.7 percent of last season’s regular-season minutes back on the roster.
That’s a hefty number, and it puts them right in the neighborhood of what repeat champions usually look like. Since 1951, Basketball Reference’s roster-continuity data has tracked 22 repeat-title seasons, including teams that won more than two straight.
Across that stretch, the average repeat champion returned 88.4 percent of the previous season’s minutes. The Knicks are basically there.
And the bigger picture is even more encouraging. Among those 22 repeat winners, only three teams came in below the 80 percent mark. In other words, keeping the core intact has been the rule, not the exception, for teams that string together titles.
That’s why New York’s position stands out even more when compared with the most recent repeat champions. The modern NBA churns faster than ever, and two-way contracts have only added to the annual turnover. Against that backdrop, the Knicks’ continuity looks unusually strong.
Of course, this isn’t the whole story. Continuity alone doesn’t guarantee anything.
The Oklahoma City Thunder returned 93 percent of the minutes from their 2025 title and still didn’t make it back to the parade. Injuries happen.
Roster luck changes. New contenders show up.
Still, the Knicks have done the hard part of preserving their foundation. Robinson was seventh on the team in total minutes last season and the best backup center in the NBA, so his loss will be felt.
But New York didn’t see any starters hit the open market, and a big portion of the depth stayed put too. Jose Alvarado, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson, and Mohamed Diawara could have gone the same way Robinson did.
They didn’t.
That leaves the Knicks with something real, not just cosmetic. With everyone other than Clarkson either still in or not yet in their prime, this level of continuity carries actual weight. It gives New York enough evidence to reasonably believe its repeat bid should be taken more seriously.
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