The most successful season that the New York Knicks have had since the turn of the century came to a disappointing end with a six-game loss to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. While there has been some thought that New York needs one more splash to take the next step to the NBA finals, ESPN NBA insider Bobby Marks suggests that the Knicks should take the Pacers' success as a reason to stay the course.
Marks' argument is based on the fact that the Knicks' core has proven to be a strong one, reaching at least the second round in three straight years and coming within two wins of the NBA Finals this season. With the potential for massive roster turnover in Boston and Milwaukee, the Knicks have a golden opportunity to follow Indiana's lead by giving their core a chance to run it back for the 2025-26 season.
Indiana's blueprint could prove to be the winning one for the Knicks
After losing to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago, Indiana resisted the urge to make a massive splash to shake up their core in the pursuit of glory. With largely the same team that beat the Knicks a year ago, the Pacers built strong continuity and used their depth to wear down Milwaukee, Cleveland and New York over the course of the spring to reach their first NBA Finals since 2000.
This postseason run was a litmus test for whether this Knicks core could work and they showed that they can handle top competition by dispatching the Celtics in six games, a series they were in control of even before Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles at the end of Game 4. Four of the Knicks' starters (Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby and Karl-Anthony Towns) are under contract for the next three years and Mikal Bridges could complete that quintet by signing an extension this winter.
Maintaining continuity is going to be harder in the second apron era but Brunson's decision to sacrifice over $100 million in last summer's extension gives the Knicks the ability to build on this core. The trades for Bridges and especially Towns forced New York to spend this season developing chemistry, which they finally began to show towards the end of the year when Mitchell Robinson returned from ankle surgery.
There is a good chance the Eastern Conference Finals would have gone the distance if the Knicks didn't blow a massive lead late in Game 1, but Indiana has been a bad matchup for New York due to their fast-paced style and relentless depth. Head coach Tom Thibodeau was experimenting with depth units during the series, re-inserting Landry Shamet and Delon Wright into the rotation after both had been mothballed for months, which may be an admission that he knows he can't rely on a seven-man rotation this deep into the postseason.
The best strategy for the Knicks is to keep their core (the starters plus Robinson and Miles "Deuce" McBride) intact while looking to add more depth to their rotation. Finding a true backup point guard, another 3-and-D wing (retaining Shamet could work here) and a rim protector (as insurance on Robinson's health) would be a good way for New York to build on what worked while providing protection against injury.
New York finished the playoffs with all of their key rotation players healthy (aside from Towns playing through a knee injury), something that isn't guaranteed a year from now. Having better depth would allow the Knicks to protect the health of their stars and give them a stronger chance to take that next step to the NBA Finals in 2025, something that has happened for each of the past three teams to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals dating back to 2022.