Jan 25, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) asks for the ball as New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) inspects it before their game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Brad Penner-Imagn Images

NBA All-Star Predicts Knicks Make Finals

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Geoff Magliocchetti | Last updated Aug 24, 2025 5:00 PM ET

One former NBA All-Star thinks placing the New York Knicks in the 2026 NBA Finals is a slam dunk.

The Knicks have at least one high-profile early believer in six-time All-Star Blake Griffin, who hand-picked New York in his Finals prediction revealed on a recent episode of "Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston. Griffin told the women's basketball legends that he has the Knicks facing Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.

"New York or Cleveland in the East, I'll take New York," Griffin said. "They learned from some mistakes, they make a few tweaks ... It's hard to say not Cleveland because we kind of do this thing where when a team loses before we think they should, we kind of like pick them apart ... [But] I will go with Knicks-Denver, Finals."

Blake Griffin predicts the Knicks play versus the Nuggets in the 2026 NBA Finals do you agree?! pic.twitter.com/BncDFX6DYi
— Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston (@PostMovesShow) August 22, 2025

The Knicks are a popular pick among premature prognosticators, as they maintain most of the team that ended the franchise's 25-year lack of conference final showings. With All-Star duo Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns leading the way, the Knicks added Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele to the fold in free agency, bolstering their depth in anticipation of a deeper playoff run.

Having ended several droughts in recent years, the Knicks still haven't reached the NBA Finals since 1999. Little more needs to be said about the team's lack of championships, as the most recent of two came in 1973 under the watch of Dick Barnett, Bill Bradley, Walt "Clyde" Frazier, Willis Reed, and more.

Nikoka Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Griffin's imagination pairs the Knicks with the Nuggets, as the 2011 Slam Dunk Contest champion was impressed by the way they took the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games during the Western Conference's semifinal round. Denver is three years removed from ending a championship drought of its own, winning the first in franchise history in 2023.

Despite engaging in one of the most shocking in-season coaching oustings in recent memory by ditching ex-Knicks assistant Michael Malone in favor of newly-crowned full-time man David Adelman, the Nuggets still carry the services of three-time MVP Nikola Jokic . Denver likewise bolstered its bench with the additions of Bruce Brown, Jonas Valanciunas, and another former Knick in Tim Hardaway Jr.

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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