For the Knicks, 2026 has to be the year

If the Knicks don’t make the NBA Finals next season, they may never get a better opportunity.

In a vacuum, the Knicks already blew their best chance.

They got past the Celtics, the team that the front office specifically built this group to beat. They dodged the 64-win Cavs, who crashed and burned on the other side of the bracket. They got to face a lower seed in the Eastern Conference Finals, a team that they almost defeated last year with a mountain of injuries.

And yet, they lost. In a vacuum, they weren’t going to get a chance like this again. They have no flexibility to upgrade, while the case can be made, they were lucky to get past Boston. Orlando and Detroit are improving, Cleveland isn’t going anywhere, and the Pacers are now a mental block. Don’t forget Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, who always manage to linger around.

That is, in normal circumstances. The vacuum fails to consider injuries.

Damian Lillard, the co-star in Milwaukee who made his ninth all-star team in 2025, tore his Achilles in the first round. With him out and a very unspectacular supporting cast, Giannis is considering asking out. Either way, the Bucks are not set up for success in 2025-26.

Jayson Tatum, a perennial All-NBA First Team player who has spearheaded a dominant Celtics team for a decade, tore his Achilles against the Knicks in the second round. His injury is expected to keep him out for the entire 2025-26 season, and due to the second apron, Boston appears to be taking a gap year next season.

And finally, in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, Tyrese Haliburton, the boogeyman that has become a modern-day Reggie Miller and has become a repeated thorn in the side of this franchise, suffered a torn Achilles that will almost certainly cause him to miss all of next season.

Three all-stars. Two franchise cornerstones. All three figure to miss all of next season. The Bucks, Celtics, and Pacers will have gaping holes that are almost impossible to fill next season. Injuries removed, these three teams would be in the top five in preseason odds to win the Eastern Conference next year.

The vacuum doesn’t exist anymore. An already weakened Eastern Conference just received another death blow. The Knicks enter the offseason as a co-favorite with the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the Eastern Conference for the first time in over two decades. The 2025-26 season will be the first where the Knicks aren’t looking up at a seemingly unbeatable force in their conference, and that leads to a scary thought.

If the Knicks can’t make the NBA Finals next season, this iteration of the team may never get an opportunity like that again. Sure, they’re built to still compete past 2026, but the East figures to be able to reload with better health and young teams continuing to progress. When you look at the state of the teams around them, you begin to see how wide-open this conference has gotten.

Even without Tatum, Boston appeared to be extremely formidable. That was, until the grim reaper known as the second apron essentially forced Brad Stevens to ship off Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis for Anfernee Simons, Georges Niang, and draft compensation.

Indiana runs their entire offense around Haliburton’s style of play, and they’ll need big steps forward to compete. Not to mention, they’ll wrestle with the luxury tax if they extend Myles Turner.

Cleveland, thanks to Evan Mobley’s breakout campaign, is a second apron team in 2025-26. Their depth was a big part in them winning 64 games, but they figure to be at risk of losing Sam Merrill and/or Ty Jerome to free agency.

The Knicks beat Detroit in six games last season, and although they can make some moves with their young players and cap space, the market isn’t exactly flush with options.

On paper, Philadelphia could be a sleeper team into next season. They have an ultra-talented starting five, even with the regression of Paul George, and look to return Jared McCain from injury and bring back Quentin Grimes for the bench. Not to mention, they have the No. 3 pick. For Philly, however, it’s always a matter of health. Joel Embiid has played just 58 total games in the last two seasons and is 31 now, can he really stay healthy?

Orlando made a move similar to last season’s Knicks by emptying a treasure trove of picks for an upgrade in Desmond Bane, but that team is heavily reliant on big steps forward by Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero. Even with Bane’s elite shooting, they figure to be in the bottom ten in 3P% in 2025-26.

As for the rest, the play-in figures to be a battle between guys like Atlanta, Miami, Toronto, and Chicago. So, a day that ends in “y”. Atlanta and Toronto have made some moves, but neither figures to make a substantial move in the East.

Meanwhile, for the Knicks, if they so choose, they won’t have to deal with roster turnover. A new coach, whenever he’s revealed, will hopefully be catered to the roster. A roster that the Knicks figure to return their top seven players will be able to grow together in the same way that cores in Denver and Boston did while supplementing them with (hopefully) better depth.

All things considered, this is gonna be your best shot. Even if Tatum and Haliburton are slowed down when they return from their Achilles tears, they’ll be massive boosts to their team. The Knicks also have a bulk of their core in the midst of their athletic primes, not to mention they’ll be in the second apron as early as 2026-27.

It has to be the year. It just has to.