The New York Knicks shocked the world by blitzing their way from the No. 3 seed to the title, with one of the best postseason runs in NBA history. They may need to summon even more magic to run it back this season.
Most sportsbooks still give the Oklahoma City Thunder and San Antonio Spurs better odds at winning it all this season, and the Knicks sitting roughly equal to the Philadelphia 76ers. ESPN's NBA Insiders has the Knicks as a distant third to the Thunder and Spurs in their preseason predictions, again just a hair ahead of the 76ers.
What the Knicks are trying to do is not unprecedented — seven franchises have managed it before. But it's been eight years since the last time we saw a team win back-to-back championships and it's happened four times in the past 25 years. Can you name every franchise that's pulled it off?
Who will be the biggest challengers to the Knicks this season?
Oklahoma City Thunder: The Thunder have finished with the best record in the league for two consecutive seasons, outscoring opponents on average by double-digits in both campaigns. They have the two-time MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. And while they lost Lu Dort and Andrew Wiggins, they have a slew of young guards ready to step up and take those minutes. They are arguably the most talented team in the league and certainly the deepest. There's a reason they're most people's favorite to win it all.
San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs were bodied in the NBA Finals by the Knicks but showed they were way ahead of schedule just by getting there. Victor Wembanyama is ready to break up SGA's stranglehold on MVP, their young talent is only going to be better this season and they went out and added some more veteran depth with Tobias Harris.
Philadelphia 76ers: No team remade their roster more dramatically this offseason, landing both LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. There are legitimate questions about how well their five-man unit will share the ball and how well their admittedly modest bench will hold up. Throw in some injury concerns and it's easy to sketch out how this might not work. But their star power is undeniable, they'll put pressure on the Knicks throughout the regular season and could be an extremely tough out in a seven-game playoff series.
Boston Celtics: The Celtics lost Jalen Brown but the bones are still here of a team that won 56 games last season. They'll need Jayson Tatum to take over as the undisputed offensive focal point for perhaps the first time in his career. But they also added veteran leadership in Paul George and Mike Conley, and dramatically upgraded their big man rotation with Mitchell Robinson. On paper, they may still be a hair behind the Knicks but that's why we play the games.
Cleveland Cavaliers: They absolutely dissolved in the playoffs but the addition of James Harden changed them and they outscored opponents by an average of 26.1 points per 100 possessions with Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen on the court to finish out the regular season. If Peyton Watson is the fifth wheel they've been looking for this team could absolutely run through the rest of the East.
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