Knicks propped up as No. 1 contender to win the East behind defending champs next season

The New York Knicks received high placement in a recent power ranking ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season.

The Knicks are coming off of a 2023-24 campaign where they won 50 games and finished No. 2 in the Eastern Conference behind the defending champion Boston Celtics. The Knicks were led by Jalen Brunson, who was named to his first NBA All-Star team and finished as a top-five MVP candidate as well as an honoree on the All-NBA Second Team.

Despite the host of injuries that the Knicks battled throughout the previous campaign, they are slated to enter next season with much of their core intact along with several impactful off-season acquisitions that make them, in the eyes of one publication, the most formidable team that could knock off the Celtics’ route to back-to-back titles. 

Knicks labeled second-best team in the East for next season

John Schuhmann of NBA.com recently compiled a power rankings list for all 15 teams in the league’s Eastern Conference. Schuhmann gave the nod to the Boston Celtics at his No. 1 spot, but coming in right behind them were the Knicks. Schuhmann justified placing the Knicks over several other Eastern Conference contenders such as the Philadelphia 76ers (No. 3) and the Indiana Pacers (No. 4), who made it to the 2024 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Milwaukee Bucks, who are looked at as threats to win the title year in and year out, rounded out his top five.

The Knicks will likely see a dramatic improvement in the scoring department next season with the addition of Mikal Bridges. Additionally, the perimeter defense is due for a spike seeing that they have two of the premier on-ball defenders in all of basketball in Bridges and 2023 steals leader, OG Anunoby, who will allow the Knicks to switch with regularity against an array of defenses and play small and fast.

Thus, their defensive rating of 112.4, which finished ninth in the NBA a year ago, could ascend into the top five league-wide. The same can be said for their offensive rating of 117.3, which was achieved despite New York’s No. 2 option in 2024 All-Star Julius Randle missing a considerable portion of the last season following his dislocated shoulder suffered on Jan. 27. 

On paper, the Knicks look like a team that has the talent, skill, depth, and the coaching, alongside a positive trajectory, leaning more toward the high-octane playing style of today’s game rather than the gritty and grind-it-out pace that they played at in years prior, to make a serious finals run. But aside from the numbers, the Knicks will have to deal with several teams out east.

Who are the other biggest threats to the Knicks in the East?

They have also made considerable improvements to their roster on both sides of the basketball. The 76ers’ big three of former 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid and All-Stars Tyrese Maxey and Paul George have the punch to deliver a knockout to the Knicks in a potential playoff series rematch from last postseason. The Knicks came away on top in their first-round series 4-2, which elevated their profile. Albeit, Embiid was hurt throughout the series and now their revamped roster, which also includes several role players that can produce from outside and on defense, makes them a major threat.

The Pacers have another year of experience for their young nucleus, led by reigning All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, former 2019 NBA champion Pascal Siakam, and rising star Andrew Nembhard, which could pay off in major fashion when next year’s postseason rolls around. That all comes without mentioning the Bucks and their big three that include two perennial MVP candidates in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, as well as their tertiary star in Khris Middleton, who not only dealt with injuries throughout the last campaign, but has also been quiet from a production standpoint, dating back to two years ago.

There are no grounds to scoff at any projection that places the Knicks as the second-best team in the East. They have the makings of a team that can make even more noise than they have up until this point during the Julius Randle era next time out. Nevertheless, the East has enough teams that have been to the NBA’s mountaintop or close enough to it to want to get back there again, that will look to thwart the Knicks in their own path to championship glory.