Knicks get head-scratching placement in recent power rankings

Are the New York Knicks truly the seventh-best team heading into the 2024-25 NBA season?

That’s the way Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey sees the Knicks in comparison to the rest of the franchises in the league. Bailey justified where he placed the Knicks by saying this (h/t Mike Fisher of Athlon Sports’ All Knicks):

“The New York Knicks overpaid for Mikal Bridges, but they were in a unique position to justify that,” Bailey writes. “With Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo all there and on reasonable contracts, OG Anunoby’s $212.5 million deal is easier to wrap your head around. 

“The Knicks are well built, versatile and bona fide contenders.”

Knicks have the ingredients of most former championship teams

First and foremost, the Knicks boast one of the best perimeter defenses in basketball on paper. As presently constructed, they have a Defensive Player of the Year caliber wing in Bridges, another All-NBA defender in OG Anunoby, and one of the best rim protectors and rebounders in the league in Mitchell Robinson.

On the other end, New York has the components that nearly every championship team in NBA history has had. The Knicks are led by two bonafide 25-point-per-game scorers in All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle. While most other champions have had great role players around scorers cut from that cloth, New York adds to their lineup with another 20 PPG quality contributor in Bridges and two scorers in Anunoby and Donte DiVincenzo that are liable for like production and could get on Bridges’ level should they take the next step with more opportunities.

Knicks may have a case to rank higher than two 50-win teams out West

There are not many teams across the league that can say the same. Coming in ahead of the Knicks in Bailey’s rankings were the reigning champion Boston Celtics at No. 1, followed by the Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Denver Nuggets, Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers taking up spots 2 through 6 respectively.

The Thunder (57-25) did finish with the best record in the West in 2023-24, but they have a young roster. Man for man, they don’t have anywhere near the level of offensive firepower that the Knicks do. Seeing that they came in ahead of a Mavs team that made it to the 2024 Finals, it would not have been controversial in the slightest for the Knicks to come in ahead of them.

Additionally, the Timberwolves, as great as they were last season and as talented as their star duo of Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns may be, could be looked at as neck-and-neck with Brunson & company from a talent perspective. Their continuity may give them a slight edge, but New York’s well-balanced

Do the Knicks deserve to be viewed as a top-five team heading into 2024-25?

Whether or not the Knicks overpaid for Bridges is debatable. The seven future draft capital, five of those picks being guaranteed firsts, that they coughed up in their trade with the Brooklyn Nets for the Villanova product was hefty. Albeit, the chances of the the franchise finding a talent of his ilk in the draft, with how good they’ve played in the Julius Randle era, are not high for the foreseeable future.

The Knicks have it all. But ultimately, the biggest factor, outside of health, will be whether or not Brunson plays like an MVP next year or not. They’ll only go as far as he takes them. If 2023-24 was a sign of things to come, the Knicks should be in good hands, giving the rest of the league reason to look over their shoulder.