Mapping Out Knicks' Doomsday Scenario

The New York Knicks are expected to be great in the upcoming season, but what if everything goes wrong?

Jan 25, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) reacts during the third quarter against the Denver Nuggets at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks are one of the top-tier teams going into the season, but there is a lot that can happen that can prevent that.

The Knicks have been hit hard by the injury bug throughout the past few years, especially last season when OG Anunoby, Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson all missed valuable time. The season was salvaged by the play of Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo, Josh Hart and Isaiah Hartenstein, but the latter moved on in free agency to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Hartenstein is being replaced again by Robinson, but the Knicks are expecting a slight downgrade at the position. In a potential worst case scenario, Robinson is either injured or he simply doesn't fit as well as Hartenstein did.

The Knicks made a huge move by trading multiple first-round picks for Mikal Bridges. Given how much they traded for him, the move has to pan out. But the price already puts a lot of pressure on Bridges, and he might need to adjust a little bit to his new role and surroundings, which could lead to a drop in the standings.

Brunson and DiVincenzo are both coming off the best seasons of their respective careers. There's potential for the pair of them to continue improving, but if last season represented their peak, the Knicks could be in line for a slight decline.

On top of that, if the players who missed out last season continue to sit out with injuries, the Knicks won't get much further than they did last year. The Knicks' ceiling is a title run, but they need to have a healthy team in order to do that.

If everything goes bad for the Knicks, they will still be a decent team. Their floor is higher than some ceilings at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. There's no world where the Knicks aren't better than the tanking Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Detroit Pistons. It's also hard to imagine the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets being better than them.

That means the Knicks are looking at the 9-seed probably as the absolute worst case scenario, and at that point, they would have the Play-In Tournament to give them a chance to get back in the postseason picture.

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