Knicks Are All In

The New York Knicks have a championship in their sights.

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks have a spot at the poker table and they are pushing all of their chips in.

The Knicks believe they have a roster that can compete for a championship this year and it's shown in their moves that they have made over the past year or so.

ESPN listed the Knicks as one of five teams all in for a championship.

"The Knicks locked in Mikal Bridges on a four-year, $150 million extension last month after getting Jalen Brunson inked to his own long-term deal last season. New York now has five players — Bridges, Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart — under contract through at least 2028. That's the vision the franchise had for this group over the past 18 months to, in theory, give the team a long runway," ESPN wrote.

The other teams included in the same tier with the Knicks are the Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic.

The Cavs were the No. 1 seed in the East this past season after winning 64 games, the Rockets traded for Kevin Durant from the Phoenix Suns this offseason, the Thunder are the defending champions and the Magic traded for Desmond Bane from the Memphis Grizzlies.

This is the cream of the crop in the NBA going into the 2025-26 campaign, so the Knicks' inclusion on this list should be a sign that whatever is happening is working.

The Knicks mean business and they want to win it all. They don't have a ton of flexibility to make any more massive moves like Cleveland and Oklahoma City do, but they are looking for ways to improve their team in any way imaginable.

Adding Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson to a bench unit that severely needed help aren't the flashiest of moves, but they are signs that the Knicks are among the top contenders in the league.

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