NBA legend Kevin Garnett recently ranked the best teams in the Eastern Conference and had the New York Knicks as the second-best franchise heading into the 2024-25 campaign.
Garnett played in the East for eight seasons between 2007 and 2015 for the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets. Though he played in a time where the East was top-heavy, but clearly little brother to the formidable Western Conference, the former 2004 NBA MVP knows better than most what goes into a team that teems with championship DNA.
The former 2008 NBA champion touted his defending champion Celtics as the best team in the conference, followed by the Knicks in a recent sit-down.
Knicks: Kevin Garnett views the Knicks as a real threat out East
Throughout the Julius Randle era in New York, the Knicks have been labeled as a dark horse team in the East. However, once Jalen Brunson blossomed into their franchise player, they became a bonafide threat.
Now that the Knicks greatly upgraded their roster yet again this summer, “The Big Ticket” thinks that the only team that’ll stand in their way is the Celtics, who have hardware and experience behind their talented roster. Trevor Hass of Boston.com summed up Garnett’s ranking of the best teams out East on a recent episode of his “Ticket and the Truth” podcast with fellow Celtics legend Paul Pierce, as he shared on his X profile:
“It’s a big ol’ buzz saw right above them, that’s a green buzz saw that’s cutting everything in half,” Garnett said of the Celtics hovering over the Knicks as the East’s supreme.
“Garnett replied that, in his eyes, it goes: Celtics, Knicks, 76ers. Pierce asked Garnett if the 76ers match up with the Celtics with Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George,” Hass synthesized.
“I think Philly’s effort, and those three guys, because Maxey can get you 50, Embiid can — he’s an MVP — and then you got Paul George, who’s premier,” Garnett said. “That’s going to get you something.”
Can the Knicks overtake the Celtics in 2024-25?
Boston has earned the right to be looked at as the favorite heading into next year. Albeit, New York can legitimately say that they can go tit for tat with Boston on both ends of the floor. Jalen Brunson and his 28.7 PPG in 2023-24 proved he can be just as effective a volume scorer as Celtics star Jayson Tatum.
Julius Randle still has hiccups to overcome in the postseason, but even if he does not play up to his customary 24-25 PPG type of production year in and year out, he can still go bucket for bucket with reigning Finals MVP Jaylen Brown.
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The Knicks also have Mikal Bridges, who is a proven tertiary scorer who boasted 19.6 PPG for the Nets last time out, and OG Anunoby, who is liable for 20 points on any night. Plus, both are among the best perimeter defenders in basketball and could theoretically be deployed in a potential playoff series to focus heavily on stopping the Celtics’ aforementioned two-headed monster with the Knicks still having two 25-plus PPG performers fresh to focus solely on scoring. That also doesn’t even take into account the Knicks having Donte DiVincenzo and his 15.5 PPG off the bench to offset Derrick White’s superb play off the Celtics bench.
The Knicks have the size and mobility with Mitchell Robinson, Jericho Sims, and Precious Achiuwa to hold Celtics bigs Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford, and bench depth, also including Josh Hart and Cam Payne that can match up with Boston’s strong second unit. As an aside, the Sixers, who Garnett listed as the third-best team, have a scary big three of former 2023 NBA MVP Joel Embiid, and 2024 All-Stars Tyrese Maxey and Paul George that could seize the East for themselves. Nevertheless, the Knicks have all of the tools and no excuses as to why they can’t represent the conference in the 2025 Finals.
