Multiple Knicks Rivals Named Among Biggest Offseason Losers

The New York Knicks look to leave the long offseason not only unscathed, but looking like one of this summer's more exciting contenders.

They've struggled with getting out of their own way in the past, but strategically prioritized subtle margin moves in building off of last season's Eastern Conference Finals push. They've found that franchise star worth building around in Jalen Brunson, and they've given him a capable-enough supporting cast that's now found some of the depth to support their top-end talent in what many are assuming will be a season defined by their slicing through their generally-unimpressive conference.

Few of their regularly-competitive eastern cohorts pulled off similarly-successful summers, though. The Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers, the teams whom the Knicks eliminated and eventually fell to, respectively, failed to stick the landing in bounding back for the 2025-26 campaign after suffering debilitating injuries to each of their star players, and were named as such in Bleacher Report's naming of offseason winners and loser.

The Celtics, to their credit, know exactly what they're doing. Unlike many of their rivals, they've actually won with their current core, having seized the 2024 championship behind one of the most efficient offenses in the history of the NBA, and see little value in trying to contend this upcoming fall while franchise centerpiece Jayson Tatum slowly makes his return from the Achilles tear he suffered in this summer's playoffs.

"Boston is a loser in this specific instance because there's no other way to describe a recent title-winner that chose to destroy itself, but its deconstruction is part of a much larger issue that could affect fans everywhere," Grant Hughes wrote. "Anyone who wants to see contenders stick together for more than a couple of years is going to be disappointed. Maybe we'll all wind up being the real losers here."

The Knicks played him well in the playoffs, forcing his Celtics into an 0-2 series deficit that they had to try working themselves out of. He went down near the end of Game 4 of that second round showdown, and his team failed to look the same without his all-around contributions before their quick elimination.