2026-27 Season Preview: New York Knicks

The defending champion Knicks look to make a repeat run to The Finals this season.

Offseason Recap

•

Last Season

: 53-29 (3rd in East,

won NBA Finals

)

• Key Additions

: Andre Drummond

Every Knicks move this offseason

Season Outlook

With one of the

most amazing playoff runs

in NBA history, the New York Knicks are champions for the first time in 53 years. Jalen Brunson is the new King of New York, OG Anunoby is immortal, and nobody cares how many picks the Knicks traded for Mikal Bridges.

Now, we see if they can do it again.

It’s been

nine years

since a team repeated as champion, and it’s possible that the Knicks will never again play as well as they did in the 2026 postseason. But maybe they found something that can carry over, and maybe this veteran core just knows how to win more than any other squad in the league. Maybe Karl-Anthony Towns can hold his own defensively, maybe Anunoby is now an All-Star, and maybe Landry Shamet is one of the best shooters in the league … and so on.

The Knicks will miss Mitchell Robinson, and they’re up against a stronger and deeper Eastern Conference, featuring

the most talented roster

the Sixers have put around Joel Embiid. But New York should obviously be the favorite in the East, and we’ll surely see more high-stakes playoff drama at Madison Square Garden in spring 2027.

Breakout Candidate: Mohamed Diawara

The Knicks are a veteran team, and Diawara (21) may be the only guy on the roster under the age of 25 with a good chance of seeing regular rotation minutes. He got some run as a rookie last season after being selected in the second round of

the draft

, and he was a better-than-average shooter (36.9%) from 3-point range.

He’s also one of the biggest guys on the roster. The Knicks have the ability to play two bigs (with Towns at power forward) and they will play small, but their only true 4s are Anunoby and Diawara. If the latter shows improvement in Year 2, he’s a valuable piece.

Diawara wasn’t in the playoff rotation last spring and might not get much action in the next postseason if everybody’s healthy. But with a lack of depth on the frontline, he’ll have plenty of regular-season opportunities that could earn him some real playoff minutes.

1 Number To Know

+1.2 —

The Knicks were the only team that scored more efficiently in the 2026 playoffs (119.9 points per 100 possessions) than they did in the regular season (118.7). Their most efficient, 10-game stretch of offense (127.0 points per 100) for the entire season was their last 10 games prior to

the Finals

.

Among the 98 players with at least 50 field goal attempts in the playoffs, Anunoby, Towns, Bridges and Shamet saw the 3rd, 7th, 11th and 13th biggest jumps in effective field goal percentage from the regular season. Anunoby’s mark (67.2%) was the highest in NBA playoff history for a player with at least 150 field goal attempts.

The Knicks hit a new level and won a championship. The question, now, is if their playoff success can carry over into this season.

5 Must-See Matchups

• Oct. 20: 76ers vs. Knicks

— There’s no better way to start the season than with the raising of a championship banner and the biggest marquee matchup in the East.

• Oct. 27: Pistons vs. Knicks

— If they had met in the playoffs, it might have been a different story: The Pistons owned the Knicks last season, winning their three meetings by an average of 28 points.

• Nov. 13: Knicks vs. Pacers

— The Knicks are the defending champs, but their previous two trips through the playoffs came to an end against the Pacers, who are back to full strength after playing a season without Tyrese Haliburton.

• Dec. 25: Spurs vs. Knicks

— The Knicks’ 59th

Christmas Day

appearance will be the first Finals rematch of the season. The Finals was just the second playoff series in the 30 years of play-by-play data in which the winning team came back from double-digits in all four of its wins.

• Feb. 7: Knicks vs. Thunder

— The first meeting between the last two NBA champions will take place in Oklahoma City at the end of Week 16. The Thunder have won the last six (and 17 of the last 20) meetings.

>

Complete Regular Season Schedule

Preseason Storylines

Last year, Landry Shamet went from battling for a roster spot in training camp to

hitting big shots

in the playoffs. This season, the Knicks will have veterans Ochai Agbaji, Bruce Brown, Drew Eubanks, John Konchar and James Wiseman in camp, with two roster spots available. The top nine spots in the rotation seem pretty set at this point, but the Knicks will need everybody over the course of the season.

Andre Drummond is

the one newcomer

with a guaranteed roster spot to keep an eye on. He is seemingly a downgrade from Robinson on defense, so that end of the floor will be under the spotlight early.

Complete Preseason Schedule

* * *

John Schuhmann has covered the NBA for more than 20 years. You can e-mail him

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