The New York Knicks are coming off their first championship win in 53 years, beating the San Antonio Spurs and superstar Victor Wembanyama. In an era of NBA parity, the last team to repeat as NBA champions was the 2017-2018 Golden State Warriors. The Knicks are aiming to become the first team since then to do so. With the competition getting tougher in the East and a bigger target on their back, recapturing an NBA championship is that much harder.
During the 2026 Finals, the Knicks needed multiple comeback victories, including a historic 29-point comeback in game four. It was the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history and put New York up 3-1 in the series. Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby both had 30+ points and cemented themselves as New York legends after Anunoby’s game-winning tip-in. Following a summer of partying and being treated like royalty in New York, Brunson and the Knicks aim to do it again.
The New York Knicks Offseason Changes
As with every NBA offseason, superstars switch teams around the league, and franchises make changes to improve. The Knicks, however, didn’t make any major moves, as most championship teams tend to “run it back” the following year. They re-signed most of their players, such as Jordan Clarkson, Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado, and Mohamed Diawara. All were impactful in their championship run. They also lost Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti to division rivals but signed Andre Drummond as a replacement. New York then drafted German guard Jack Kayil and forward Tyler Nickel, both in the second round.
The Knicks ultimately focused on retaining depth and most likely weren’t gonna make any massive blockbuster trades. Their emphasis on developing young players internally, along with repeat All-Star seasons from their stars, showed this past season enough to warrant minimal changes during the offseason. As other teams in the league improve within their conference, the Knicks’ road to another NBA final won’t be as easy as the previous season.
Improvement In The East
There were a number of blockbuster moves this offseason, from Giannis Antetokounmpo getting traded to the Miami Heat to Walker Kessler signing with the LA Lakers. A common talking point in the NBA is how the Eastern Conference is significantly easier than the West when it comes to superstar players and stacked rosters. After the moves made this offseason, it could be argued that the East is tougher than the West.
The Western Conference still has top-heavy, young, stacked teams like the Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, who have MVP-caliber players like Wemby and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. A few All-Star players, however, have switched conferences. Guys like LeBron James, who left the Lakers and joined the Philadelphia 76ers, and Kawhi Leonard, although not official yet, will return to the Toronto Raptors after leaving the LA Clippers.
Even potential future stars and key role players like Peyton Watson, who left the Denver Nuggets to join the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Lu Dort, who left the Thunder to join the Atlanta Hawks. All those Eastern Conference teams were in the playoffs this past season and added big pieces to improve their rosters.
The East featured some large interconference moves as well. As mentioned already, the Heat acquired the Greek Freak from the Milwaukee Bucks, pairing him up with All-Star center Bam Adebayo, while the 76ers added All-Star Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics to pair with an already stacked starting five of LeBron, Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecombe, and Joel Embiid.
Not only are teams improving through free agency and trades, but also through health. The Indiana Pacers and Orlando Magic were two teams in the Eastern Conference last year that were projected to be competitive but had key players miss significant time. The Pacers, who eliminated the Knicks in the 2024-2025 conference championship, finished as a bottom-5 team in the East after star PG Tyrese Haliburton missed the entire season.
As for the Magic, they had star forward Franz Wagner miss significant time throughout the season, playing only 34 regular-season games. Despite returning in the first round of the playoffs for the Magic, Wagner got reinjured in Game 4 when they were up 3-1 on the Detroit Pistons, causing the Magic to blow their 3-1 lead. Both teams are expected to be healthy for the 26-27 season and compete for a championship.
With major changes to teams like the 76ers and Raptors, improvements from the Heat and Cavaliers, and returning stars for the Pacers and Magic, the East is much stronger. Not to mention top-seeded teams like the Pistons and Celtics mostly running it back, as well as the potential breakout of young teams like the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls.
Despite this, New York has faith in its core to do the unthinkable once again. After 53 years, Knicks fans finally saw a championship they thought would never come, but now they await the chance to witness the league’s first back-to-back champion in eight years.
