When Zach Lowe of The Ringer says something about your NBA team, you have no choice other than to listen. He isn’t one of those analysts that tosses around off-handed, inflammatory takes willy-nilly. So when he declares that the New York Knicks have officially entered championship-or-bust territory, you know it’s true.
“This is the most pressure a Knicks team has faced, I’m gonna say, since [Patrick] Ewing’s prime,” he explained on a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show, at around the 8:16 mark. “This is the first year in forever where the Knicks legitimately face pressure of like, ‘If you don’t make the Finals, it’s a disappointing season.”
It turns out Lowe has something in common with the vast majority of Knicks fans. Earlier this summer, The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III ran a poll for the Orange and Blue faithful. Over 70 percent of those who responded believe the Knicks must make their first trip to the NBA Finals since 1999 for next season to be considered a success.
That is an awfully high bar to clear. It also comes with the territory. The Knicks just made it to the Eastern Conference Finals. Progress isn’t always linear, but appearing in the Finals, if not winning the title, is the natural next step. Especially under these circumstances.
This is the Knicks’ best chance to win it all
Critical injuries to the Indiana Pacers (Tyrese Haliburton) and Boston Celtics (Jayson Tatum) have left the East as wide open as ever. Many have billed the Knicks as favorites to emerge from the conference, with only the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic looming as potential rivals.
Hierarchies are always debatable. New York’s ticking clock is not.
Extending Mikal Bridges locks down the lion’s share of the Knicks’ core for multiple years. Mitchell Robinson is the lone exception. But the team will cannonball into the second apron next season if it keeps everyone together. That investment cannot be taken lightly. And even if New York makes it, the nucleus has an expiration date.
Spending more than two years in the second apron is basically out of the question. Teams don’t want to face frozen draft picks, and selections moved to the end of the first round. Navigating the restrictions placed upon second-apron squads in free agency and on the trade market can also only be done for so long.
The Knicks’ situation is particularly precarious because they’ll struggle to integrate cost-controlled talent via the draft. Landing Mikal Bridges obliterated their asset base, and even if it didn’t, they have yet to show they can develop youngsters while competing at this level.
Zach Lowe is right about the Knicks
The Knicks, as Lowe notes, haven’t been on the periphery of favorite status since Ewing was annually finishing top-10 in MVP voting…just like Jalen Brunson is now. The 1999 Finals was a happy accident. And the 2000 conference finals appearance felt like a bonus.
The closest another recent squad has come is 2012-13. And even that 54-win team wasn’t engendering the same kind of hype.
This season may not be New York’s last with the current core, but it’s certainly the most important campaign this franchise has faced in decades. The Knicks’ rise over the past few years has been more of a pleasant, just-happy-to-be-here surprise. That honeymoon phase is over.
Picks have been traded. Players have been paid. Bold press releases have been sent. The Finals-or-bust mentality Lowe spotlights is not of imagination’s or even fans’ design. New York has brought this upon itself.