Repeating as NBA champions has become incredibly difficult.
We haven’t seen a team do it since the Warriors won consecutive championships in 2017 and 2018. And as good as these Knicks are, they’re nowhere near the level of that Golden State superteam featuring Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala.
That alone should tell you how difficult New York’s task will be.
The Knicks Can’t Expect the Same Finals Again
Give the Knicks credit for how they won the championship. They simply refused to go away.
Even when they were down, they continued playing hard and repeatedly took over games in the fourth quarter on both ends of the floor. But they also benefited from some extremely poor decision-making and execution from the Spurs when it mattered most.
If New York gets back to the Finals, they can’t expect those same opportunities.
There’s also the loss of Mitchell Robinson, who joined the Celtics in free agency. Robinson wasn’t one of their stars, but his impact was huge. His offensive rebounding created extra possessions, while his size and rim protection gave the Knicks another defensive weapon in the paint.
That’s a significant loss for a team trying to repeat.
Philadelphia Might Be the Team to Beat in the East
The 76ers are the team I’m watching most closely in the Eastern Conference.
On paper, they have everything: All-Star talent, tremendous depth and a strong coaching staff. You could genuinely describe this roster as a superteam.
With the amount of talent at their disposal, anything short of reaching the NBA Finals would be a disappointing season.
And when you look around the league, there are really only two teams that can match Philadelphia’s combination of star power and depth: Oklahoma City and San Antonio.
My Top Three Title Contenders
The Knicks deserve respect as the defending champions, and they’re absolutely capable of making another deep playoff run.
But winning back-to-back championships is a completely different challenge.
Right now, I have three teams ahead of them:
1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Philadelphia 76ers
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Knicks are the champions until somebody knocks them off.
But if I had to pick the teams most likely to be holding the trophy at the end of the season, I’d take the Spurs, Sixers and Thunder over New York.