Steve Popper: Knicks should be conference favorite next season, but LeBron James could make other teams a threat
Joel Embiid of the 76ers and Jaylen Brown, formerly of the Celtics, embrace after Game 7 of the First Round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs on May 2, 2026 in Boston. Credit: Maddie Meyer
The focus in New York may have been on Rich Paul’s words when, in the most recent edition of his “Game Over” podcast, he definitively said that if the Knicks hadn’t won the NBA title last month, LeBron James unquestionably would have pursued a path to play with them.
As it turned out, James’ agent had the Knicks as a mere one-word note on the outside of his whiteboard. But in a league in which the top agents and players plot out the path of the game, it was worth looking at the bigger picture he had outlined.
He had five teams in the center with a line from James to each one, detailing the strengths of the rosters and how James would fit. And it provided the start to a blueprint of what the Knicks will face as they embark on the 2026-27 season as defending champions.
While they may be the pursued, they aren’t the only ones. It was easy to see teams trying to stock up on size to match up with the likes of Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs, whom the Knicks dispatched in five hard-fought games in the NBA Finals. The Spurs are regarded as a power in the years to come.
The drastic changes actually were made in the Eastern Conference. Still, the Knicks should enter the season as the conference favorites, experienced and now proven, not just through their dominant postseason run — 13 straight playoff victories at one point and sweeps of the second and third rounds of the playoffs before the NBA Finals — but through multiple years together as they built to this point.
And they are back, almost in full. The starting lineup returns intact with all five starters under contract. Key reserves were brought back with Landry Shamet and Jose Alvarado retained as free agents. Deuce McBride still awaits his payday, but Andre Drummond was secured to replace the departed Mitchell Robinson.
There are moves to be made on the fringes of the roster and rotation, but the Knicks will take the floor with essentially the same group that has gotten better every year.
So where will the threats come in the revamped Eastern Conference?
The transformed
Start with Philadelphia, a team that the Knicks romped past in a four-game sweep in the conference semifinals.
The 76ers swung a huge trade to obtain Boston’s Jaylen Brown, replacing Paul George, who went out in a deal that still has most NBA observers scratching their heads.
They also stocked up, adding Cleveland’s Dean Wade, a defender with size and three-point shooting ability, and Anfernee Simons, an explosive bench scorer. This came after they drafted Labaron Philon Jr., a highly regarded two-way guard.
They already are nothing like the 2025-26 team, although they built with pieces of teams that the Knicks knocked out the last two seasons. The struggling Wade lost minutes steadily through this season’s Eastern Conference finals and Brown probably is still smarting from the 2024-25 Knicks’ second-round upset of the Celtics. And interestingly, they seemed to head up the whiteboard with Tyrese Maxey, one of Paul’s clients, marked with an asterisk. Add LeBron to this mix and it’s one of those “if they can stay healthy” teams that are worth watching.
The two other Eastern Conference teams in the prominent spots around James on the board are his former teams, Cleveland and Miami. Each team is very different from his last stop there.
The Heat swung big this offseason, trading much of their roster for Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s understandable why they would chase James, given that there is little around Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. They lost Norman Powell but signed Tim Hardaway Jr. to provide some perimeter shooting and signed Simone Fontecchio. Nevertheless, they seem to need more to contend.
Cleveland is different despite how easily the Knicks blew out the Cavs in the postseason. Like the Knicks, they remain mostly intact. James Harden opted out to allow them flexibility to make moves while he waits for a contract extension. Wade is out and James certainly would be an upgrade. Enough of an upgrade to turn a four-game Knicks sweep into a real threat?
Toronto didn’t make the whiteboard, but getting Kawhi Leonard back across the border without giving up any of the core pieces they’ve been building with — Scottie Barnes and former Knicks RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley — gives the Raptors a formidable starting lineup.
The wild cards
Detroit was the top seed in the regular season, but the Pistons traded away Isaiah Stewart and have been playing hardball with Jalen Duren, seemingly willing to dispose of the toughness that made the Pistons so dangerous. Duren likely will be back, maybe not happily, as he is a restricted free agent. And they do have Cade Cunningham leading them, along with Ausar Thompson. They added John Collins and Isaiah Joe.
Orlando never seemed able to get healthy last season, and now the Magic have a new coach in respected longtime assistant Sean Sweeney, who crafted San Antonio’s defense last season. If — a big IF — they can stay healthy, they are the type of hard-nosed team that has given the Knicks trouble.
Staying in place
While Quentin Dolan will take over the day-to-day operations of the Rangers, a league source said he will remain in his role overseeing sports science and player performance for the Knicks.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
