The Knicks have built this roster to compete for a championship, not just to be respected. After big trades, a favorable Eastern conference setup, and a shrinking financial window around this core, this postseason feels very important. Fair or not, no team is carrying more pressure in the playoffs than New York right now.
After advancing past the Hawks in Round 1 and now the 76ers in Round 2, the stakes haven’t gone down—they’ve gone up.
The East Opened Up
Let’s start with the Celtics. A team the Knicks knocked out in 6 games last year—and a team that looks very different now. No Jrue Holiday, no Kristaps Porzingis, no Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum missing most of the regular season with that Achilles tear. Boston still got the 2-seed in the East, but lost in Round 1 anyway. So they’re one tough team now gone.
Then we have the team that beat the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals last year, the Indiana Pacers. Similar to Boston, Indiana also lost their best player to an Achilles tear when Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Unlike the Celtics though, the Pacers absolutely collapsed without Haliburton. They finished in 14th place in the Eastern Conference at 19-63. So the defending Eastern Conference champs are not even in the playoffs.
We also have the Cleveland Cavaliers, who just eliminated the top-seeded Pistons. Now, the Cavs may not have had any injuries like the Celtics and Pacers, but they may have suffered a self-inflicted wound when trading for James Harden. That guy is allergic to playing consistently good basketball in the playoffs. At this point after playing for so many teams and coming up short, it’s fair to question how much you can rely on him in the postseason.
And Now Here Comes Cleveland
Here we are again, another shot for the Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. This is actually the matchup most were expecting after the 2025 playoffs ended, after Tatum and Haliburton both suffered torn Achilles. Almost a year later, and it’s exactly what we got.
There was pressure from the start for the Knicks just from expectations alone. But now it comes from the opportunity right in front of them. The Knicks are entering this series as -250 favorites, and there has never been a better time than right now for this team to finally get back to the NBA Finals.
There’s a difference between entering the playoffs with pressure and arriving at the Conference Finals with a legitimate opening to reach the NBA Finals. The East bracket really opened up, and the Knicks are four wins away from the Finals with home court advantage and a favorable path in front of them. That’s what makes the pressure even heavier now.
Cleveland has had a bumpier path to get here compared to the Knicks. The Cavs needed Game 7 wins in back to back series to make the Conference Finals. So right off the bat fatigue has to be a question for this team.
The Knicks enter this series playing their best ball, with plenty of rest, facing a turnover prone team who needed to play all 14 potential games to get to this point. And the Knicks will once again avoid the higher seed and get to host this round. So even as the 3-seed the Knicks got home court in every single round in the East and didn’t have to play the 1 or 2-seed. You literally could not have come up with a better script in the East for the Knicks to finally get back to the Finals.
Jalen Brunson’s Pay Cut Created This Window
On July 12, 2024, Jalen Brunson signed a four-year, $156.5 million contract extension through the 2028-29 season with the Knicks. Not too shabby. But he would have been eligible for a five-year, $256 million extension if he waited for the 2025 offseason. Instead, he opted to take less in order to help the team have more flexibility moving forward.
Brunson did this so the team can contend. This sacrifice by him gave the front office flexibility to stay aggressive and keep building around him. That’s exactly what led to major moves like adding Karl-Anthony Towns (KAT) and Mikal Bridges.
However, windows like this don’t stay open forever. Contracts change, supporting casts get harder to keep together, and opportunities such as the Eastern Conference being crazy weak don’t always line up this cleanly. If Brunson was willing to make that kind of commitment to winning with this franchise, the expectation is simple: The Knicks HAVE to take advantage of it.
The Knicks Went All-In
I mentioned the KAT and Bridges trades, but let’s dive deeper into why these deals matter so much. Let’s start with KAT. This was a three-team deal, but essentially the Knicks traded Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, and a future first-round pick for him. I was worried about KAT’s grit when this deal was made as he seemed to play soft at times. But I couldn’t be happier with him at the moment as he’s suddenly looking like John Stockton passing the ball and is a huge reason the Knicks are playing so great.
For Bridges, they traded FIVE unprotected first-round draft picks. This always struck me as way too much for Mikal Bridges, but I was also wondering maybe the Knicks did this for Brunson given his pay cut for them? Whatever their reasons, it was an absolutely massive haul of picks to give up for Bridges.
All together that is six first-round draft picks lost, plus Randle and DiVincenzo in those two deals. A front office is not trading six first-round picks to get bounced early in the playoffs. No, these were aggressive, all-in type moves from the Knicks. This wasn’t some patient rebuild. It was a conscious effort to go for a title right now with Brunson at the helm and taking that discount.
If Not Now, When?
The New York Knicks have not been to an NBA Finals since 1999. They have not won the Finals since 1973. Wanna know who was on that 1973 team? Phil Jackson. Yes, it’s been that long. And when I look at the sacrifices Brunson made, the aggressive moves, and the weak East, the time is absolutely now.
This team needs to feel urgency here. You avoided playing the top 2 teams in the conference, and the team that beat you last year didn’t make the playoffs.
You look over at the West, and it is just loaded compared to the East. But this weaker Eastern conference will not last forever. Especially because it feels like the NBA has 1-3 wild moves every offseason that shake up the league.
The Knicks have done what they should have so far, beating two teams in the Hawks and 76ers that they are better than. And now the pressure is higher than it has ever been. They are favorites to win, have home court advantage, and the Cavs are very likely feeling some fatigue after two 7-game series. If they fail to capitalize on this opportunity to finally get back to the NBA Finals, it will haunt this franchise for a very long time.
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