The Knicks drew a brutal hand in the NBA Cup.
When the league announced the group assignments for next season’s tournament, New York landed in East Group B with the Cavaliers, 76ers, Heat and Pacers. On paper, it looks like the toughest of the six groups, and it’s easy to see why people are already calling it the group of death.
This isn’t one of those groups with a couple of heavyweights and a few teams expected to fade. Group B is loaded from top to bottom, with five teams that can all make a case for being dangerous. For the Knicks, that means the path out of the group is going to be a grind.
New York enters as the defending NBA Cup and NBA Finals champion, which only adds to the pressure. The Knicks are the team everyone will be chasing, but repeating here would be no small task. If they somehow become the first franchise to win multiple NBA Cups, they’ll have earned it the hard way.
Cleveland is the first major obstacle. The Cavaliers’ season ended with a sweep at the hands of the Knicks in the Conference Finals, and that kind of exit tends to linger.
Even so, this is still a strong roster with room to improve, and a possible move for LeBron James would immediately change the conversation. For Cleveland, the group stage offers an early chance to prove it can stand back up after New York knocked it down.
Philadelphia brings a similar edge. The 76ers were also swept by the Knicks, and in similarly ugly fashion.
If they’re healthy, they should be dangerous again, especially with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe forming one of the league’s most entertaining young backcourts. A healthy Joel Embiid can wreck a game at any moment, and the addition of MVP finalist Jaylen Brown - with Paul George going to Boston in the shakeup - gives the group another major storyline.
Like Cleveland, Philadelphia has had its share of recent losses to New York, and that makes this a natural spot for a statement game.
Miami is a different kind of threat, but no less intriguing. The Heat have been stuck in the play-in lane after falling to the Nuggets in the 2023 Finals, yet their outlook changed after trading for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
That move alone lifts their ceiling, and another addition or two could push them into contender territory. Knicks-Heat always carries some heat, but this one comes with extra juice because everyone knows Antetokounmpo wanted to be a Knick.
A win over the defending champs would also be a loud way for Miami to announce its new era.
Then there’s Indiana, the team that may be the most dangerous matchup of all for New York. The Pacers were mostly an afterthought last season, but they’re only one year removed from pushing the eventual champion Thunder to a Game 7 in the Finals.
If Tyrese Haliburton gets back to his pre-injury level and Ivica Zubac settles in smoothly, Indiana could be right back in the mix. The Pacers are also the only team in the group that has had recent success against the Knicks, and that success came in the biggest games.
This time, New York will be the one looking for revenge.
The Knicks can still repeat, and depending on how they open the 2026-27 season, they might even be viewed as favorites when the NBA Cup rolls around. But compared with the other groups, which include teams like the Nets, Bucks, Kings and Pelicans, surviving this one would be an accomplishment all by itself.
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Knicks May Already Regret This Cost Cutting Draft Decision
The Knicks went into draft night looking to trim rookie costs, trading back in the 2026 NBA draft and using the savings to help re-sign Jose Alvarado and Landry Shamet. On paper, it was a tidy bit of roster management for a team trying to balance immediate depth with future flexibility, especially after passing on Baylors Cameron Carr and St. Johns Zuby Ejiofor.
Summer League has made that decision look a little more complicated. Carr has flashed real scoring pop, while Ejiofor has already shown he can fill up the box score for Atlanta, and both performances have only sharpened the sense that New York may have let useful young talent slip away. With the Knicks still juggling veteran additions and the long-term picture around the roster, the question now is whether the cost-cutting move left them thinner in the one area contenders can least afford to be: development. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Know Jalen Brunsons Bargain Deal Wont Last Much Longer
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The hard part is what comes next. Brunsons contract was always going to age into a bargain, and the Knicks know the bill is coming eventually, whether they try to handle it early or let the calendar push him closer to the open market. However it unfolds, New York is headed toward a future in which keeping Brunson in orange and blue will require a massive commitment. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Think Karl-Anthony Towns Is Just Scratching The Surface
Karl-Anthony Towns already showed how dangerous he can be when the Knicks put the ball in his hands, using him as a playmaker during their championship run and leaning on that versatility to help erase a series deficit against the Hawks. It was a reminder that his value in New York goes beyond the usual scoring and rebounding expectations, especially when the offense is built to let him read the floor and make decisions.
An assistant coach believes there is still plenty more to mine from that approach, with the Knicks planning to expand the Towns-centered packages once they get a full training camp to work with. Roster changes and the possibility of young players taking a step forward could open even more lanes for the offense next season, but the biggest question is how much of the attack can be built around Towns when the supporting cast around him looks a little different. [Read more 🡒]