The Knicks got to enjoy a championship summer, but the road back is already looking rougher than it did a few months ago. And the team making life harder for them isn’t Boston.
Philadelphia has changed the picture in a major way by adding Jaylen Brown and then LeBron James, turning a division rival into something far more dangerous than the group New York knocked off last spring. That matters because the Knicks are no longer chasing a familiar East. They’re staring at a conference that kept moving while they were celebrating.
Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks understand what it takes to finish the job over the course of a season. Still, that doesn’t make a repeat any easier, and it certainly doesn’t hand them a comfortable path through the Atlantic.
Boston is no longer the only team New York has to worry about. Philadelphia has enough elite talent to make every regular-season meeting feel like a real measuring stick for the champs.
The Sixers didn’t just bring in a useful piece. Brown is a proven top option, and James adds another player who can take over late in games. That leaves the Knicks facing a different kind of pressure as the reigning champions, with everyone now aiming at them.
There’s no need for New York to overreact to what happened around the league. But the Knicks do have to make sure their defense and depth are ready for a wider range of matchups. The East isn’t going to make life easy just because the champions have the crown.
The good news for New York is that it has the personnel to handle the challenge. Towns, Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and the rest of the group know the standard now. The real question is whether they can carry that standard into a season where every contender spent the summer trying to answer back.
Philadelphia is one of those answers. And the Knicks are going to get plenty of chances to prove they’re still the team everybody has to chase.
In Other News...
Knicks Still Have One Clear Roster Need Before Camp Opens
The Knicks still have one obvious item to clean up before training camp opens, and it sits right in the middle of the floor. With Karl-Anthony Towns and Andre Drummond in place, New York is thin behind them after Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti departed in free agency, leaving the front office with a clear need for another center to round out the depth chart.
Leon Roses group has been keeping tabs on options, with Tony Bradley on the radar as a possible camp addition and Drew Eubanks also among the names being considered. For now, the target is straightforward: find a third-string center who can help stabilize the start of the season, even if the bigger roster picture still could shift again before the trade deadline. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks May Have A Cheap Answer To Their Center Problem
The Knicks still have a couple of roster spots to sort out, and one of the lingering questions has been how they plan to shore up the center position after running into difficulty in free agency. One name that has surfaced as a possible low-cost answer is Kelly Olynyk, a veteran big who spent last season with the Spurs and could give New York some needed experience and spot minutes in the middle.
Olynyks path remains a little murky, though, because he was recently part of offseason workouts with Victor Wembanyama and other San Antonio players in Paris. So while he fits the profile of a useful depth add for New York, the Knicks may have to wait and see whether he stays with the Spurs or becomes available for a move to Manhattan. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Could Find A Needed Defensive Wing In Memphis Cuts
Memphis is facing a roster squeeze as it works to trim down to 15 players, and that kind of late-summer cleanup can create an opening for teams watching the waiver wire. One name worth tracking is Micah Peavy, a defensive wing who spent last season with the New Orleans Pelicans and has earned attention more for his work on that end of the floor than for what he brings offensively.
For the Knicks, that profile fits a very specific need as they continue sorting out the back end of the roster. Peavy has reportedly drawn interest from New York as a possible add, with the path potentially starting on a training camp arrangement before any longer-term role comes into view. It is the sort of low-risk swing teams make when they are looking for size, energy and defense without having to pay a premium for it. [Read more 🡒]