Former Knicks Scattered Across Conference Finals

The New York Knicks have finally burst through their biggest threshold after being eliminated in the second round in each of the past two seasons.

Now, their progress has carried them to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.

The players on the team have undergone a lot of growth together, and now they have a chance to win together. However, it wasn't just the players on the current roster that helped the Knicks get to where they are. They got help from each of their past two rosters before this season to get the ball rolling.

While not every player in the Jalen Brunson era made it to the Knicks' current point, they find themselves also celebrating in the Conference Finals with their respective teams. Based on the final four teams remaining in the playoffs, someone from New York's last three rosters will win a championship this season.

In the West, Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle are in the Conference Finals after being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the offseason. Should the season end with both of them in the NBA Finals, it will be a storyline that gets lifted back into the forefront.

The Wolves will face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals after the No. 1 seed torched Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in Game 7 of their second-round series. Isaiah Hartenstein has played an integral role for the Thunder this season after breaking out with the Knicks a year ago.

The Knicks will face the Indiana Pacers, who are back in the Eastern Conference Finals for a second straight season. Obi Toppin, who was drafted by the Knicks in 2020, has been with both Pacers teams to reach the Conference Finals, and now he will be tasked with beating his old squad to get to the NBA Finals.