The New York Knicks have assembled their strongest roster in years and have hopes of competing for an NBA championship this year.
After bringing back most of a roster that won 50 games and came within one win of the Eastern Conference Finals and trading for Mikal Bridges, the Knicks figure to be one of the East's best teams.
However, The Athletic's John Hollinger, the former Vice President of Basketball Operations with the Memphis Grizzlies, isn't quite ready to put the Knicks atop the East — or even second.
In a Q&A style piece about the Knicks with The Athletic's Fred Katz, Hollinger said that although the Knicks are built like the Celtics, he doesn't quite see them as top tier contenders. Hollinger further argued that the Milwaukee Bucks, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, and the Philadelphia 76ers, with Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey, might both be just ahead of the Knicks.
Hollinger wrote:
"Right now, I’d label the Knicks as more of a fringe contender than an inner-tier one. They have many of the same traits as Boston does in terms of having several capable players across the positional spectrum to offset the lack of an MVP-level superstar. But on paper, they still rate as a discount version of that. (In a related story, the Celtics are awesome).
"Additionally, while they have a great chance of winning more games than the Sixers or Milwaukee Bucks in the regular season, I’m not sure they quite have the playoff ceiling that Philly and Milwaukee do if their best players are healthy and firing on all cylinders in May."
While it's not far-fetched to rank the Knicks fourth in the East, for a team that hopes to make the Eastern Conference Finals after going close to all-in, it's a deflating place to land.
The Knicks, like the rest of the league, are chasing Boston. The Celtics are coming off an historic season, and it's fair to say the Knicks are not on their level.
The Bucks and 76ers currently look like the Knicks' biggest threats to make the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams had good offseasons.
The 76ers obviously landed George in the biggest move of the summer, but they fortified their roster with smart additions like Caleb Martin, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon, and Reggie Jackson while also retaining Kelly Oubre Jr. and Kyle Lowry.
The Bucks, meanwhile, made great use of limited resources, bringing in Gary Trent Jr., Taurean Prince, and Delon Wright on the veteran's minimum. Arguably, there's a reason all three players were available at that price, but if the Bucks' core is healthy, they have proven, helpful veteran talent now surrounding their top players.
The 76ers could argue that they would have beaten the Knicks in the first round if Embiid had been 100%. After all, the series was decided by just one point. The Bucks could argue they would have been the favorites to make the Eastern Conference Finals if Antetokounmpo and Lillard were healthy for their first round series.
Of course, the Knicks have the same arguments to make: they made their playoff run despite Julius Randle missing all of the postseason, OG Anunoby missing five of 13 games, Mitchell Robinson missing seven games, and Bojan Bogdanovic missing 10 games. By Game 7 of the Pacers series, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart were playing through injuries, and Alec Burks, who had been out of the rotation, was playing 27 minutes. Tom Thibodeau remarked after the game that the Knicks "had nothing left to give."
While the Knicks don't have the top-level talent of the Bucks and Sixers, they do boast arguably the best depth of the three teams.
Hollinger went on to say that the Knicks still have plenty of time to make other moves to fortify their roster, especially at center.
The Eastern Conference race is setting up to be a compelling one. Beyond the top four, the Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat all have hopes of winning at least one playoff series. The competition is so stacked that several teams' seasons will end in disappointment by losing in the first or second round.
