With the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics both missing All-NBA superstars Tyrese Haliburton and Jayson Tatum for at least most of 2025-26 due to Achilles tendon tears, the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers appear primed to take over as the two clubs to beat in the Eastern Conference. The revamped Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic have at least a shot to make a splash, while the Milwaukee Bucks can never quite be counted out so long as All-NBA First Team power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo remains upright.
But the conference sure looks like New York or Cleveland’s to lose right now.
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Still, the Knicks in particular have some skeptics — at least when it comes to their projected 53.5 regular season win tally over/under.
Count John Hollinger of The Athletic chief among the doubters.
Although New York did bring in two key rotation pieces to help build out its bench this summer in free agent vets Guerschon Yabusele and Jordan Clarkson, the team’s biggest move may have been its controversial decision to fire former Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau, on the heels of the Knicks’ first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 25 years.
Thibodeau was supplanted by another recent Coach of the Year, ex-Sacramento Kings head coach Mike Brown. It is expected that Brown may add some new optionality to the club’s offensive attack, which last year was heavily predicated on All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson bailing the Knicks out late in possessions.
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“The Knicks won 51 games last season with a coach (Tom Thibodeau) who is renowned for his willingness to totally disregard any bigger-picture ramifications in pursuit of wins in the here and now,” Hollinger contends. “And we’re saying, after replacing him, that they’ll win more regular-season games this season? The logic doesn’t compute.”
Hollinger cautions that, although the Knicks boast a solid top seven (presumably he means starters Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, plus Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson and Yabusele, but there’s a chance he’s ranking backup guard Miles McBride over Yabusele) and are in a weak conference, the club enjoyed unnaturally good health during the regular season and playoffs — outside of the oft-hurt Robinson, anyway. So he clearly expects things to turn against them this year.
If injuries do strike, Hollinger is concerned about New York’s frontcourt, too.
“As a secondary consideration, the depth situation beyond the top eight players looks somewhat dire, particularly at forward. The Knicks are forced by their second-apron situation to keep only 14 players and may need to backstop the last two roster spots with late second-round picks who normally would be on two-way contracts,” Hollinger writes. “Pacome Dadiet and Tyler Kolek don’t exactly seem primed to take the league by storm either.”
Hollinger notes that the Brown change is more about leveling up in the postseason with more on-the-fly rotational adjustments than it is about maximizing regular season wins. His relative pessimism is more about what New York can or cannot accomplish from October through mid-April, rather than in a hopefully deep playoff run.
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