New York Knicks: 3 bold predictions for the coming season

Prediction No. 1: The Knicks struggle, but make the playoffs

For reasons semi-explained above, the Eastern Conference will be no easy beast to tame this year. The New York Knicks might’ve had luck on their side last year, though things might not repeat themselves all so easily.

The top 3 seeds in the East are pretty much a lock. You’ve got the Milwaukee Bucks, the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers in no particular order. The thought of another team knocking any of these three out of their place seems like science fiction, as things currently stand.

Then, the Manhattan-hated Atlanta Hawks enter the conversation, a team that more than proved itself as worthy of contending for a spot in the NBA Finals. Last but not least, the Miami Heat are looking particularly scary after having an off-year in 2020-21.

The thought of the New York Knicks beating out any of these five teams is not out-of-this-world by any means, but you can’t deny that it is unlikely. Possible, but not probable.

On the other hand, there seems to be a rather large gap between this first group of contenders and the second group of playoff-reachers, consisting of the Chicago Bulls, the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers.

All in all, the prediction is that the New York Knicks will be somewhere in between. Probably not going to contend and, at the same time, probably not worrying about the play-in tournament.