The New York Knicks have one of the most unique seasons in their history coming up in 2026-27: a season defending their title as NBA champions.

3 Bold Predictions for the Knicks’ Season

With much of the roster returning, a wild offseason across the league, and public contract disputes, the spotlight remains on them as next week’s season opener approaches. Here are three bold predictions for the Knicks’ upcoming season.

1. OG Anunoby will make his first All-Star Team

So far in his nine-year NBA career, OG Anunoby has yet to make an All-Star team. Despite never scoring more than 20 points per game in a season, Anunoby surpassed that number during the 2026 championship run. Anunoby is regarded as one of the best wing defenders in the league, as he made the second-team All-Defense team last season.

In a stacked Eastern Conference with superstars throughout, Anunoby’s odds of making the team could be slimmer than they would be on a team in the Western Conference. However, the Knicks are more than capable of having three players receive all-star honors, and after Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, Anunoby is far and away the most likely to do so.

2. The Knicks will NOT finish with a top 2 seed

While the Knicks are still the class of the conference, the East has become a gauntlet not seen on this side of the league in decades. The Philadelphia 76ers have obviously been a major story in the conference after the acquisitions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown.

Despite losing Brown, the Boston Celtics can still be a formidable force with Jayson Tatum‘s return. And with Kawhi Leonard‘s return, the Atlantic Division has become a gauntlet. Playing those teams four times each could easily be a detriment to their chances of finishing near the top of the conference.

Another reason they may finish below one of the top two seeds is the infamous championship hangover. Though it’s a cliché across all sports, New York is not immune to this phenomenon. There are years when the champions do not have the hangover, like last season’s Oklahoma City Thunder, who started 25-2.

However, it is entirely possible that the Knicks coast and do not exert 100% effort throughout the regular season to preserve health for the postseason. After all, health played a pivotal role in their Finals run last season.

3. The Knicks will win the East again

Even with the Eastern Conference so revamped, the Knicks have something no other contending team in the conference has: continuity. New York brings back its entire starting five, head coach Mike Brown, seven bench players, and all nine assistant coaches from last season’s championship team.

No other team in the conference has anything remotely close to that kind of continuity. This means there aren’t glaring concerns about how the players fit into Brown’s system or the chemistry and synergy of the starting five and the supplemental bench options.

The biggest question roster-wise is how Andre Drummond will replace Mitchell Robinson as the backup center. If that’s the biggest question mark for a team going into the year, it’s safe to say they’re in a good place.

In the rest of the East, there are questions about how Brown and James will coexist with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. Boston has questions about how Tatum will lead the team without Brown.

The Miami Heat strengthened with the trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but will Davion Mitchell and an aging Klay Thompson be a strong enough backcourt to keep them in the Finals conversation? The Indiana Pacers’ success hinges on how Tyrese Haliburton performs after recovering from his Achilles rupture, and we have yet to see him play alongside Ivica Zubac.

Though Leonard is an upgrade as a primary scoring option for Toronto, there’s no guarantee that he stays healthy as he ages another year. Can the Detroit Pistons get more scoring from anyone other than Cade Cunningham? And for the Cleveland Cavaliers, will only adding Peyton Watson be enough to push them over the line?

These are all concerns that need to be raised about other potential contenders in the conference — questions that center on their starting fives. These are questions that do not have to be asked about the Knicks. And while some of the ideas posed above may be addressed successfully by some of those teams, others will certainly be addressed negatively by other teams as well.

The Last Word on 3 Bold Predictions for the Knicks’ Season

The Knicks will have their work cut out for them this season, as the team currently holds the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The new-look teams across the East will make the prospects of a repeat more rigorous. It will certainly make the regular season more of a grind than it may have been prior, maybe leading to a lower playoff seed than New Yorkers may like.

But last season’s postseason run in the East wasn’t just successful — it was utterly dominant. So while the rest of the conference may be catching up, the Knicks are still kings of the East. And when you come at the kings, you best not miss.

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Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect