The second in the league in the strength list, the third in the league in the total salary! It is difficult for the Knicks to win the championship in the new season

The days of the new season are getting closer and closer. After a whole summer of operations, the east and west pattern of the NBA has undergone drastic changes. There are more and more teams in the West and the Thunder, including the Rockets + Timberwolves + Clippers + Nuggets, and the defending champions are expected to be surrounded and suppressed in the new season; and in the East, the Celtics have tried to avoid taxes after Tatum's serious injury is basically reimbursed next season. The core framework of winning the championship is basically left one by one, basically only Jaylen Brown + White is left, and the new season has lost its competitiveness; and the Pacers who reached the Finals last season, Turner was poached by the Bucks, and the core Halliburton is also seriously injured, so it is difficult to achieve success in the new season. The strength of the Eastern Conference is particularly significant, with only two teams in the first level: the Cavaliers and the Knicks.

The U.S. media "TA" has no suspense in the first place in the new season, but what is more surprising is that the Knicks and the Cavaliers are second and third, becoming the favorites to win the championship, beating the four Western teams, the Rockets, Clippers, Nuggets and Timberwolves. This is easy to understand. It is nothing more than who is closer to the championship. After all, the competition in the Eastern Conference is not that fierce, and the probability of reaching the finals is naturally higher. The Knicks had a regular season record of 51 wins and 31 losses last season, and eliminated the Pistons and Celtics one after another in the playoffs, but lost to the Pacers 2-4 in the Eastern Conference Finals and was eliminated in disgrace. During the offseason, the Knicks management made several "very rational" decisions, such as firing Thibodeau, and overdrafting the starting lineup, and the substitute scoring league was criticized for being at the bottom.

In addition, Clarkson, who was bought out by the Jazz, was the sixth man of the year. He averaged 16.2 points per game with the Jazz last season, which is definitely able to support the Knicks' substitute firepower output. In addition, it was to sign Yabusele. Yabusele averaged 11 points + 50% shooting percentage in the 76ers last season, and was very efficient. After a month of waiting, the Knicks finally renewed their contract with Bridges for 4 years and $150 million. They have been waiting for Antetokounmpo to make a decision, but Antetokounmpo has not made a decision, and the Knicks can only keep this lineup framework for the time being. First of all, according to statistics from the US media "HoopShype", the Knicks' current total salary is US$205 million, third in the league, second only to the Cavaliers and the Mavericks. Several giant teams in the Eastern Conference have a lot of spending.

However, they basically spent all their money on the main players, just like the Nuggets in the past. The following season is as an example. Towns has 53.14 million + Anunoby 39.57 million + Brunson 34.94 million + Bridges 24.9 million + Hart 19.47 million. The starting fives earned 170 million, but is there a limit on winning the championship in these fives? This must be positively correlated with the team's core. Look at a set of data: Last season's playoffs, the Knicks played in the three-round series of the Eastern Conference Finals. The team's boss Brunson, the On-Off value is -7.7, especially in the first five games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Brunson's irreplaceable value is -11. The second-in-command of the team, Towns -2.2, the third-fire point Bridges -25.3, Anunobi, who has the second-salary salary, is -11.3, only Hart, who is not that famous, has the value of On-Off is 0.

can be simply understood as the Knicks' starting players, and the performance of being present is not as good as not being present! Then some fans must have responded: It would be better to go directly to the five substitutes and keep winning points! No, there is undercurrents within the Knicks and has its own small faction! If Towns is replaced by Mitchell Robinson, the Knicks will win 25 points in 100 rounds in the playoffs; if Towns is replaced by 6.8 points in 100 rounds. Towns also won points with McBride + Hart + Anunobi, but with Brunson, he lost 4.4 points in a hundred rounds. In addition, during the playoffs last season, the quarrel between Towns and Anunobi was exchanged for Brunson to accuse Towns; when the Knicks were eliminated by the Pacers, New York media reported that someone in the locker room was dissatisfied with Towns' defense, and the internal undercurrents surged!

Simply put, this team is not very united! Why is a foreigner in Towns who gets a super maximum salary? From Brunson's perspective, why is a team blue-collar Anuno more salary than himself? At the beginning, Brunson took the initiative to cut his salary, freeing up salary space for Bridges. But can Brunson renew his contract with a 4-year, 320 million super maximum salary in the summer of 2028. Will he still cut his salary? Or can he wait until then to stay healthy? Towns could have renewed his contract for 145 million in two years and 2 years ahead of schedule this summer, but the Knicks had no plans to renew the contract. Including the two blue-collar workers, Anunobi and Hart in the lineup, according to the current market conditions, there is also a premium component, and the trading cost-effectiveness will only gradually decline in the future.

In other words, the Knicks' final win window will only have next season. By the 26-27 season, the starting five will earn 190 million yuan. Even if they are rich, they will face heavy penalty for the league's super luxury tax, but in fact, the nature of the core disunity + the lack of objective conditions for leading the team limit proves that this is meaningless. Brunson is indeed very strong, but he is not as strong as leading the team to win the championship. He suffers from height and confrontation in the playoffs; as the direct descendant of Thibodeau, Thibodeau was in a turbulent situation after Thibodeau was dismissed; including Anunobi and Bridges, who may become victims of the transaction at any time (the contract will have to wait half a year after renewal), although the Knicks are a favorite to win the championship, they are not far from disbanding.