3 Reasons Why Knicks’ Preseason Is a Big Deal Even After Title

The Knicks began the 2025-26 season losing three of their first five games and only winning nine of their first 15 games. New York then ended up finishing three games behind the Celtics in what could’ve been a second-best East record for them instead of third-best.

All in all, none of that mattered anyway, as the Knicks bulldozed through the playoffs and won the Finals vs. the Spurs. Still, New York's early troubles last season demonstrate why the start to the campaign matters.

Fresh off of a championship, it would be understandable for many to write off the preseason as anything important for an untouched Knicks starting lineup. Yet there's multiple reasons why these exhibitions will be meaningful for this group in particular.

1. An early look at top threats

The preseason will offer the Knicks three games vs. teams that will be potential contenders in the East. They’ll start their preseason schedule on Oct. 5 vs. the Sixers, who just added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. They’ll end their preseason schedule with a pair of games vs. the Raptors on Oct. 13 & 15—who finally completed their trade for Kawhi Leonard, bringing back the star who won a title with Toronto in 2019.

The Knicks manhandled the Raptors in the 2025-26 regular season last year, but that was before they had an offensive threat such as Kawhi Leonard. Leonard has given the Knicks fits over the years while he was a member of the Clippers.

The Sixers’ roster has been completely reshaped, and they’ll be a formidable foe for the Knicks all year. The preseason matchup will give New York an early test to see what Nick Nurse throws at them, but there also is a chance that some of those key Phily players don’t even play in the game.

2. An opportunity for Knicks lineup experiments

The preseason could also prove to be a measuring stick if Mike Brown feels like he needs to budge on the starting lineup. Josh Hart missed Opening Night in 2025 vs. the Cavs, but he was out of the starting lineup anyway as Mike Brown experimented to begin the year. Could more Hart-related tinkering happen in 2026-27?

That leads into another topic of discussion: What if Andre Drummond fits well next to Karl-Anthony Towns and the rest of the starting lineup? It remains to be seen if Brown will try out a double-big lineup again alongside the likes of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby.

The double-big lineup with those three guys—and not Josh Hart—was great in the 2025-26 regular season, posting a 121.6 offensive rating and +9.3 net rating. However, that five-man lineup with Mitchell Robinson only played 102 possessions together.

3. Managing the fallout of Jalen Brunson's injury

Something to keep in mind is that the 2026 preseason opener on Oct. 5 will be less than four months since the Knicks defeated the Spurs in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. It’ll also be just over three months since Jalen Brunson underwent left wrist surgery.

Brunson played the last two rounds of the 2026 playoffs with significant pain in his wrist, leading to surgery. The recovery timeline for this type of surgery is around two months, so should be ready to go for preseason.

Could the Knicks look to give more on-ball reps to other players, such as Anunoby or Bridges, in the preseason and early on in the season to ease Brunson back into the fold? It would be a good trial run for when the Knicks need to look elsewhere if teams are doubling Brunson during clutch time.

Only Nikola Jokić (112.8), Tyrese Maxey (87), and Cade Cunningham (85.7) had more touches per game in the 2026 playoffs than Brunson (85.4) during their championship run. For comparison, Bridges averaged 42.3 touches per game and Anunoby averaged 20.1 touches per game in the 2026 postseason.

Get Knicks On SI straight to your inbox: sign up for our free newsletter here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google