Worrying about the New York Knicks’ future is officially overrated.
A panel of ESPN NBA insiders recently ranked teams relative to their three-year outlook, taking into account a variety of different factors. The Knicks finished third, trailing only the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder (duh), and the No. 2 Houston Rockets (duh, again, mostly).
Here is where New York placed in the five categories up for consideration:
- Players: 5th
- Money: 29th
- Draft: 27th
- Market: 2nd
- Management: 9th
The draft-pick and cap-flexibility situations are not pretty. The Knicks’ ability to make moves remains underrated, but they are not teeming with spending power, or tradeable first-round picks.
More than anything, this overall ranking is a huge victory for the players and front office—a testament to not only what they’re doing, but their ability to keep doing it.
The Knicks have more staying power than many realize
Though they are often painted as this fragile contender that could crumble under the weight of salary-cap aprons and a general lack of depth, the Knicks have actually assembled a rare product that runs in contrast to the rest of the NBA: a roster of players in the heart of their primes, who are under contract for the foreseeable future.
Karl-Anthony Towns is the only member of the Core Five not under team control through 2027-28. He has a player option for that season. Josh Hart, meanwhile, is the oldest of this fivesome, and he’s still just entering his age-30 campaign.
This isn’t to say the Knicks are not on the brink of tough decisions. Mitchell Robinson is extension-eligible now, and slated for unrestricted free agency next summer. Deuce McBride has just one year left on his deal after 2025-26. New York may need to navigate a revolving door of depth.
That’s to be expected as a contender. Chasing titles gets expensive. Key exits are eventually part of the experience. And yet, while the Knicks aren’t an exception, they have set themselves up to reinvest in everyone if they so choose.
New York’s cap navigation is paying off
This is where the bargain extensions for Jalen Brunson and, yes, Mikal Bridges can pay off big time. Both will still be on below-market deals entering 2026-27. That gives New York a pathway to ducking the second apron if it’s not inclined to re-sign Robinson.
More importantly, the second apron is not the Bogeyman people make it out to be. You can dip into it for a year or two while suffering manageable consequences, such as the inability to trade your first-round pick seven years into the future. The real issue doesn’t take effect unless you cross the second apron in three of five seasons, at which point your frozen pick gets moved to the end of the first round.
New York’s books are structured to play a cat-and-mouse game with the second apron. That’s the value of the Brunson and Bridges deals. The Knicks will still have to grapple with luxury-tax penalties and limited roster-building tools if they enter the second apron, but their bandwidth for exiting it quickly means those restrictions are only temporary.
None of this means a darn thing if it doesn’t culminate in a title. Then again, the best way to win a title is to give yourself as many bites at the championship apple as possible. For all their imperfections and limitations, the Knicks have done just that.