Championship Window Wide Open for Jalen Brunson's Knicks

The Knicks took down the Celtics in the playoffs last year, but fell short to the Pacers in six games. Those were arguably the two toughest opponents in the Knicks' way of a title, but both are expected to drop in the standings as a result of injuries to Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton.

This leaves the Cleveland Cavaliers as the main obstacle in the way of the Knicks reaching a title, but there's reason to believe Brunson can help lead New York past them as well.

"The Cleveland Cavaliers are a force, but Brunson's Knicks took them down in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. If the Philadelphia 76ers stay healthy enough to pose a threat, New York can derive confidence from the time it eliminated Philly in the first round of 2024," Hughes wrote.

The biggest change that the Knicks will have to deal with over the course of the season is adapting to new head coach Mike Brown. The Knicks fired Tom Thibodeau back in June in hopes that a new voice would help inspire some change in the locker room.

The Knicks weren't fond of Thibodeau's methods of playing Brunson and the other stars an extended number of minutes while disregarding the bottom third of the roster depth. Those changes for a more balanced roster could give the Knicks what they are looking for in hopes of improving the team.

"If new head coach Mike Brown does a better job of limiting Brunson's minutes during the regular season, the two-time All-NBA guard could be fresher for the playoffs. Considering a heavily fatigued Brunson has averaged 29.9 points and 6.8 assists over the last three years and 42 postseason games with the Knicks, an uptick in production would be a remarkable achievement," Hughes wrote.

There are a lot more factors going into the season that will affect New York's chances of winning a title, but if Brunson is at his peak, the Knicks will be a hard team to take down.