Winning the NBA championship means the target is on your back next season.

The New York Knicks are coming off an improbable playoff run where they were down 2-1 in the first round and then went on to win 15 of their next 16 games to capture their first NBA championship since 1973.

After decimating the Atlanta Hawks in three straight games after trailing the series, the Knicks swept the Philadelphia 76ers and the Cleveland Cavaliers before taking down the San Antonio Spurs in five games in the finals.

The offseason saw a ton of movement around the league as teams tried to keep pace with the Knicks and experience the feeling they had when the 2025-26 season came to an end.

The key to any championship roster is chemistry and consistency. In 2025, the Knicks went to the Eastern Conference Finals, and if not for blowing a huge Game One lead and some Tyrese Haliburton magic, maybe that series plays out differently.

After heartbreak in the Conference Finals, the team brought back the same starting lineup of Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns, but brought in Mike Brown as the head coach to replace Tom Thibodeau.

The head coaching gamble paid off as Brown was able to pull something out of the team that Thibodeau couldn’t, and now the Knicks are running it back after a championship.

The five starters are back, Brown is back, and the majority of the bench is back. The only major change saw Mitchell Robinson leave for the Boston Celtics, but the Knicks offset his production by bringing in Andre Drummond, who provides similar value.

This team knows what it takes to win at the highest level. Even before they won the NBA championship, they won the NBA Cup in the regular season.

Sure, they can get better is certain areas like getting to the line more or holding teams to a lower field goal percentage, but they were a top seven team in offensive and defensive rating last season and had the fifth best net rating.

They were already good, even before the playoffs.

The difference coming into this season is that everyone now knows how good they are. There were inconsistencies in their regular season last year, notably how they played in January and overall on the road.

It’s a long season, and slips are bound to happen, but being the defending champions means you get your opponents’ best shot every night. The Knicks have to be ready for that and continue to build on everything they did well last season.

It’s something that might sound simple or cliché, but there is a reason fans haven’t seen a repeat champion since the Warriors had Kevin Durant and Steph Curry.