The New York Knicks have one of the most talented all-around rosters in the NBA heading into the 2024-25 season. Led by their two All-Stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle, the team is destined to make a run at the finals and end a title drought that has surpassed 51 years.
However, last season showed that they cannot afford to lose key players to injuries, as it was the driving factor in them coming up short in the playoffs last season. In order for the Knicks to reach the league’s biggest stage, they will need their best players to stay healthy throughout the season.
Despite the team’s overall depth, the Knicks can’t lose Jalen Brunson to an injury
Brunson was one of the few Knicks that stayed fairly healthy throughout the season, with the exception of a handful of minor injuries that saw him only miss a few games on occasion. He carried the Knicks through the second half of the season and into the playoffs before suffering a fractured hand in Game 7 of the conference semifinals against the Indiana Pacers.
It was an unfortunate, but fitting way to wrap up a season that saw every single starter on the mend. Now, he has repeatedly said that his hand is better, indicating that he should be ready for the season opener. However, the Knicks cannot afford to have him go down again.
Luckily for them, he went down last year when their season was already on the ropes, so life without Brunson lasted for about a quarter and a half. While they have additional pieces to make up for a potential loss, Brunson is the heart and soul of the team, and the offense runs through him. Without their best player, it would become super hard for the Knicks to compete with the league’s best teams.
2. The Knicks need OG Anunoby to stay healthy this season
For the first two weeks of the offseason, there was legitimate worry that the Knicks would lose OG Anunoby in free agency, particularly to the rival Philadelphia 76ers. Thankfully for New York, they were able to bring back Anunoby not just for next season but for the long haul, inking a five-year, $212 million contract with the defensive standout wing and preventing him from joining a conference rival.
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Shortly after the Knicks acquired Anunoby midseason last year, they suddenly became one of the best teams in the NBA, riling off 12 wins in 14 games and defeating title-contending opponents by a wide margin. After he went down in late January with an elbow injury, the Knicks didn’t look nearly as intimidating, and while they still won a good amount of games, fatigue started to settle in on the rest of the guys.
His absence was heavily felt in the playoffs as well when a hamstring injury took him out for most of the second round. At the time he went down, the Knicks were up 2-0 in the series against the Pacers, and ended up losing the series in seven games after dropping four of the last five games. Including the postseason, the Knicks were 26-6 when Anunoby played and 31-32 when he didn’t (including before the trade). His plus-minus as a Knick is an even more ridiculous figure, as it is +353 despite all the games he had missed.
Even though Anunoby doesn’t light up the stat sheet, his impact on the defensive side and ability to space the floor offensively as an off-ball threat makes the Knicks one of the most balanced teams in the league. With the addition of Mikal Bridges, keeping Anunoby in the mix gives the Knicks arguably the best defensive wing duo in the entire league.
The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers pose as serious threats to the Knicks, so they will need Anunoby to avoid missing a significant amount of time as he provides a tremendous impact to this team.
