ESPN Win Totals: Knicks Slightly Fall in Expert Projections

ESPN experts see a slight decline in store for the New York Knicks come the 2023-24 season.

Time will tell how the New York Knicks follow up their most successful campaign in a decade. 

Some feel that they'll build on a 47-win season that featured their first playoff series victory in a decade. Others see the team regressing to their sputtering new-century form, especially after some changes to the Eastern Conference's upper levels.

The experts of ESPN, projecting win totals for the East's 15 teams, see an ever-so-slight decline: while those of the Worldwide Leader see the Knicks once again avoiding Play-In Tournament purgatory, they also see them going 46-36, just one victory fewer than last year's tally. That output also sees them finishing one spot worse than last year's posting, the last entry before the four-way battle between seventh and 10th (albeit five games ahead of Play-In top seed Atlanta). 

That would also tie them with the fifth-place Miami Heat, but the experts give South Beach the tiebreaker.

Things staying the same is perhaps a common theme of the Knicks' summer: with the exception of the de facto swap of Obi Toppin for Donte DiVincenzo in head coach Tom Thibodeau's nine-man rotation, the Knicks are showcasing the same roster they had last season, one headlined by All-Star forward Julius Randle and nine-figure point guard Jalen Brunson. It was a group that some felt exceeded expectations, especially after they followed up a fourth-place showing with a complete postseason miss in 2021-22.

A sixth-place finish in ESPN's rankings would place the Knicks on a path to another first-round meeting with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are third with a 50-32 mark. New York topped Donovan Mitchell's Cavs in five games last spring but the panel lauds Cleveland's "young core" that also features Jarrett Allen, Darius Garland, and Evan Mobley.

The Boston Celtics top the list at 55-27, one win ahead of last year's No. 1, the Milwaukee Bucks, while the Philadelphia 76ers (47-35) place fourth.

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Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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