Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges walk back up the floor against Philadelphia. The two Villanova teammates anchor a Knicks core that opens its title defense Oct. 20. (Getty Images)
The New York Knicks have won three NBA championships in 1970, 1973 and 2026. If they keep the 2026 title roster intact through 2028-29, they would be a legitimate NBA championship contender in 2026-27 and 2027-28 and a second-tier contender in 2028-29.
The Knicks enter this season ranked No. 1 in the East in NBC Sports’ preseason tiers.
By opening night 2028, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart would average 32 years old, and new deals for Brunson, Hart and Anunoby would likely start that season under an owner who won’t pay into the second apron.
Jalen Brunson’s floater with about a minute left in Game 5 put the Knicks ahead for good in San Antonio on June 13. He finished with 45 points in a 94-90 win, and the New York Knicks had their third NBA championship and first since 1973. Knicks Nation still hasn’t come down from it.
The banner goes up Oct. 20 against Philly. Before it does, let’s work through something that’s been rattling around in fans heads since the parade. Picture the same 15 guys on the same deals for three more years, with James Dolan still treating the second apron like a “suicidal” line he won’t cross. Are the Knicks a real NBA championship contender every one of those years?
Short version: two years, yes. By 2028-29, this group would still be a tough out, but I wouldn’t pick it to win four rounds. Age is the main reason, and the lack of a long-term backup center is second.
We went 53-29 last season with a plus-6.4 net rating, fifth in the league, and then went 16-3 in the playoffs. Philly and Cleveland both got swept. Kurt Helin has us No. 1 in NBC Sports’ preseason tiers, and he points out that 10 of the top 12 rotation guys are back.
The two who left still hurt. Mitch Robinson went to Boston as what Stefan Bondy called a cap casualty, since Dolan wouldn’t pay into the second apron. Bobby Marks at ESPN has the Knicks at plus-6.7 points per 100 possessions with Mitch on the floor last regular season. Between Mitch and Ariel Hukporti, we lost two of our top three rebounders and both of our best shot blockers per 36 minutes. Jeremy Sochan left too. Andre Drummond is here on a one-year minimum.
Let’s talk money. KAT makes $57 million this year and has a $61 million player option for 2027-28. The Knicks reportedly offered four years and $200 million, then shut down extension talks until later in the season. Towns said he found out about that the same way we did, calling it “news to me.”
Hart has a team option for 2027-28, and Deuce McBride hits free agency next summer with no option at all. Brunson becomes extension-eligible next summer. NBC Sports figures new deals for him, Hart and OG Anunoby would all likely start in 2028-29, which sits on top of the $150 million extension Mikal Bridges signed in 2025. Zach Lowe said on a recent podcast that he has us at the tax line with nine players two years from now.
So this roster can’t actually stay the same. I still think the exercise is worth doing because it takes the cap out of the conversation and leaves the part I care about: whether these guys stay good enough for long enough.
I’m not worried about 2026-27. Champions usually lose somebody important after a title. We kept almost everybody, including a Finals MVP who averaged 32.6 points against the Spurs and went over 30 in four of the five games.
Go through the East with me. Cleveland won 52 and got swept by us in May, and Helin calls this make-or-break for them. Detroit won 60, but playoff defenses sagged off Ausar Thompson, and his jumper is still a preseason rumor. Philly needs Joel Embiid’s knees to cooperate for six straight months, which, sure. Giannis is in Miami now, and Helin still has the Heat on the 13th. Boston sits 10th, even with Mitch.
I’d take Brunson over every closer on that list.
Where I do get nervous is the middle. Bondy says Drummond shoots it better than he used to but has lost a lot of his mobility, and he’s one of only two natural frontcourt players under contract. The last roster spot looks like it will go to Wiseman or Eubanks. So KAT, who averaged nearly 16 points and more than 10 rebounds in the title run, ends up playing more center than anybody would draw up.
Mike Brown also has to keep a team that just won from coasting. He was associate head coach on the Warriors teams that went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, so he’s seen this movie. Helin’s guess is we get “the good team, but not the magical one” for chunks of the regular season. I think he’s right, and I honestly don’t care where the Knicks finish in the standings as long as the starters are healthy in April.
Deuce is back to full strength after the sports hernia surgery that dragged down his playoffs, and Landry Shamet earned Brown’s trust last spring. Guard depth is fine. Behind KAT, the center room is Drummond and whoever wins that last spot.
For this season, I have us as the East favorite and one of three real title threats with San Antonio and OKC.
Freeze it another year, and KAT picks up his $61 million option. Hart’s option gets exercised, and Deuce re-signs.
Then look at the ages. Brunson turns 31 right before camp. KAT, who turns 31 on Nov. 15 this season, turns 32 that November. Hart turns 33 in March 2028. Bridges will be 31 and OG 30, which sounds fine until you remember Drummond turns 34 that August and he’s half our center depth.
Hart worries me most. His whole game is outworking bigger guys for rebounds and guarding up a position, and that’s usually the first thing to go. KAT’s shooting should hold up fine. Brunson at 31 is still Brunson, and he’s never needed to be fast.
If Rose never adds the rim protector Marks says we’re missing, KAT is still playing center at 32. Playoff teams will have had another full year to hunt him in the pick-and-roll and pound the glass on him.
Real improvement in a frozen roster has to come from the young guys. Pacôme Dadiet turns 22 that summer. Tyler Kolek and Mohamed Diawara both turned second-round picks into standard contracts, and we took Cameron Carr at No. 24 in June. One of those four turning into a starter would change a lot. Without that, we’re counting on the same eight guys not to slip.
Everybody else keeps getting better too. San Antonio won 62, around Wemby and a pile of young guards. Detroit won 60 with a core that hasn’t peaked yet. Cleveland locked in Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, and Helin thinks they can run it back for a few years.
I’d still call 2027-28 a contender year. We’d be top three in the East, though more like one of five or six teams with a real path than a co-favorite.
On opening night in 2028, Brunson is 32. KAT is 32 and turns 33 a few weeks later. Hart is 33, Bridges 32 and OG 31, so our five best players would average 32. Drummond would be 35.
Old teams have won titles. NBC Sports expects the new Brunson, Hart and Anunoby deals to start in 2028-29, stacked on whatever KAT signs. Keeping all of them means Dolan blowing past the apron he’s sworn off, and once you’re over that line, Rose loses the trade and signing tools he’d need to cover an injury.
Even if you ignore the money, I’m worried about Brunson’s workload. He wins with footwork and strength, getting his shoulder into the defender, and 2028-29 would be his seventh straight year as the guy everything runs through. I believe in him at 32 for 82 games. Four playoff rounds at 32, with KAT as the only other real creator, is a lot to ask of anybody.
The center problem from this fall would still be sitting there, too. We’d be asking a 33-year-old KAT and a 35-year-old Drummond to handle the bigs in a conference that keeps getting younger.
Wemby will be 24 by then. Detroit’s core will be right in its prime. Atlanta already has a defensive identity built around Jalen Johnson, and Washington keeps stacking young talent around AJ Dybantsa and Alex Sarr.
That version of the Knicks probably still wins a round or two and scares people. I wouldn’t pick it to win the title.
This roster gets two good shots at another banner and a third season in which it would need help. This year, we’re the team the rest of the East has to figure out, and next year still looks good if the kids develop and the starters stay healthy. The 2028-29 season is the one I’d bet against, because that’s when age and Dolan’s apron rule hit together.
That makes the next eight months a big stretch for Rose. The extension pause pushed the KAT decision into the season, and Bondy reported that Dadiet is the obvious salary to move if the Knicks want room under the apron. What Rose does with those two decides whether year three is a real shot at all.
KAT told The Athletic he was “very disappointed” about the pause. He’s on $57 million this year with a $61 million option after it, and every playoff minute he plays at center this spring is going to come up at the table next summer.
The Knicks start 2026-27 as defending NBA champions after a 53-29 season and a 16-3 playoff run, with 10 of their top 12 rotation players back. This season is the best shot, since every other East contender has a big health or fit question. They’re still in the title mix in 2027-28, though the thin frontcourt and an aging Hart cut into the margin. In 2028-29, age and the cap arrive at once, and a frozen Knicks roster would probably come up short.
How many NBA championships have the Knicks won? Three. The Knicks won in 1970 and 1973, then beat the Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals for the franchise’s third title.
How long has it been since the Knicks won a championship? Not long anymore. New York won Game 5 of the Finals 94-90 in San Antonio on June 13, 2026, ending a 53-year wait that dated to 1973.
Who were the key players on the Knicks’ 2026 championship team? Jalen Brunson won Finals MVP after averaging 32.6 points against the Spurs. Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Josh Hart filled out the core, with Miles McBride, Landry Shamet and Mitchell Robinson in the rotation.
What teams did the Knicks beat to win the 2026 NBA championship? The Knicks swept Philadelphia and Cleveland on the way to a 16-3 playoff record, then beat San Antonio 4-1 in the Finals. That series included a comeback from 29 points down in Game 4, the largest in Finals history.
Who coached the Knicks to their championships? Mike Brown coached the 2026 team. Red Holzman coached the 1970 and 1973 champions.
Where do the Knicks rank in the Eastern Conference heading into 2026-27? First. NBC Sports ranks the Knicks No. 1 overall in its preseason title tiers, ahead of Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit among East teams.
Are the Knicks expected to win a championship again soon? They have a strong case this season and a real one in 2027-28. By 2028-29, an aging core and a thin frontcourt make another title a long shot unless Leon Rose changes the roster.
Can the Knicks’ ranking improve with trades or the draft? Only within tight limits, because Dolan won’t pay into the second apron. Pacôme Dadiet is the most logical salary to move, per the New York Post, and young players such as Tyler Kolek, Mohamed Diawara and 2026 first-round pick Cameron Carr are the internal upgrade path.
What is Karl-Anthony Towns’ contract situation? Towns earns $57 million this season and holds a $61 million player option for 2027-28. The Knicks reportedly offered four years and $200 million, then paused extension talks until later in the season.