The New York Knicks already had a steep climb in front of them if they were going to become the first NBA champions to repeat in nine years. Then the landscape shifted again, and it got uglier.
LeBron James is now a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, and that move makes New York’s title defense look even more complicated. The obvious catch is that the Lakers are in the Western Conference, while Philadelphia is not.
That matters. A lot.
The East was already stronger than the West last season, and the Knicks still managed to grab the No. 3 seed and homecourt advantage through their first three playoff rounds.
Now the conference picture has changed again, with James heading to the City of Brotherly Love and Kawhi Leonard set to return to the Toronto Raptors. For a Knicks team trying to protect what it just won, those are the kinds of additions that can reshape the road in a hurry.
Homecourt advantage was a real edge for New York during its championship run. After dropping two of the first three games to the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks never looked like a team that was going to fold. But it helped that they had the building behind them against Atlanta, against Philadelphia, and against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference finals.
That kind of cushion may be harder to secure next season. Tom Thibodeau and Mike Brown have both said in recent years that teams make their own luck, and the Knicks certainly didn’t stumble into a title by accident.
They also got a break in the postseason by avoiding the conference’s top two seeds, the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. Both teams had a shot at New York in the 2026 Playoffs and didn’t get it done.
Still, if the Knicks want any edge at all next season, they’ll have to chase it early. James landing in the Atlantic Division makes homecourt advantage even more valuable.
There is one internal answer New York is banking on: Karl-Anthony Towns as a playmaker. The Knicks spent the postseason learning how dangerous he can be from the top of the key, especially against the Hawks, who didn’t have a defensive anchor in the middle to slow him down.
That role could become a major part of New York’s summer planning. Brown can keep leaning into it, even though he and Towns spent stretches of the regular season butting heads over Towns taking too long to read the floor from the post. Those possessions often ended in turnovers or missed chances for open 3-point looks, and the frustration spilled across the roster and the fan base.
The Hawks pushed the Knicks hard enough to test everybody’s commitment, and New York came through looking every bit like a champion. Towns’ passing from the top could be the next step in the offense, even after the loss of Mitchell Robinson to the Boston Celtics.
But that kind of internal growth has to stack up against the bigger changes around the conference. Moving from Paul George to Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, or from Brandon Ingram to Kawhi Leonard, or from Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. to Giannis Antetokounmpo, all point to much larger upgrades than anything the Knicks are adding themselves.
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Knicks Still Hold One Edge Rivals Can't Manufacture
Roster continuity has become one of the leagues quiet advantages, and it is part of why the Knicks can feel better about their place in the East than some of the teams around them. Recent NBA champions have tended to keep a familiar core together, and New York is in that lane far more than most rivals, with the bulk of last seasons rotation still intact while other contenders are asking a lot of new pieces to click quickly.
Philadelphias offseason makeover makes the contrast even sharper, especially in a conference where several teams are trying to blend major changes on the fly. The Knicks still have a couple of things to monitor, including the backup center spot, but those issues are not viewed as major alarms right now, which leaves New York with a stability edge that rivals cannot simply go out and buy. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Brunsons Next Knicks Deal Could Change Everything
Jalen Brunson already made one team-first choice that changed the Knicks trajectory, taking a four-year, $156.5 million deal in 2024 instead of chasing a richer five-year payday. The gamble paid off in the biggest way possible, with Brunson leading New York to its first championship in 53 years and earning NBA Finals MVP honors along the way.
Now the focus shifts to what comes next, because Brunson is under contract for three more seasons and is expected to pursue a major extension next year. The Knicks would love to keep their franchise guard happy for the long haul, but the next round of negotiations could get tricky under current league rules and with payroll pressure looming, which is why the shape of his next deal may end up mattering almost as much as the title run itself. [Read more 🡒]
The Sixers Just Loaded Up Again And Knicks Fans Know This Feeling
Philadelphia has once again gone shopping at the top of the market, and the result is a roster that looks built for a deep spring run. For Knicks fans, it is a familiar kind of alarm bell: a conference rival stacking star power, chasing the kind of ceiling that has been dangled around Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey through a long run of playoff retools and second-round exits.
The larger frustration is the same one that has followed the Sixers for years, even as the names around Embiid have changed and the expectations have stayed high. They keep getting back to the postseason, they keep looking dangerous on paper, and they keep running into the same wall before the finish line, which is exactly why every new splash in Philadelphia lands with a little extra weight in New York. [Read more 🡒]