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NBA Champion Shares Brutal Knicks Playoff Take

NBA champion Udonis Haslem doesn't believe that the New York Knicks will be joining him in the Larry O'Brien brotherhood anytime soon.

Geoff Magliocchetti

Feb 2, 2023; New York, New York, USA; Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem (40) blocks a shot by New York Knicks guard Quentin Grimes (6) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Feb 2, 2023; New York, New York, USA; Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem (40) blocks a shot by New York Knicks guard Quentin Grimes (6) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
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Longtime Miami Heat veteran Udonis Haslem is asking viewers to cool it on the New York Knicks' championship chances.

Haslem is the latest NBA veteran to publicly doubt the Knicks' title mettle, taking the team to ask on Tuesday's edition of ESPN's "NBA Today." The three-time Larry O'Brien Trophy hoister revealed himself as another questioner of not only the Knicks' ability to make a championship run but to even get out of a potential first-round series with the Detroit Pistons.

"I'm looking at the matchup and (the Pistons) are sharpening their swords and they are ready for this matchup," Haslem said. "Cade Cunningham, Malik Beasley, those guys are ready for this matchup. Jalen Brunson coming in or not, that ankle's not going to be ready until the summertime. We all know that, so he is not going to be healthy. I'm looking at Detroit and saying this could be a first-round exit for New York."

Also swayed by the idea that the Knicks "sold (their) soul" by trading Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns, Haslem is one of the latest hypnotized by the Pistons' magical run, especially in a potential opening round set with the Knicks. If the season ended today, New York would face Detroit as the third seed against the sixth and final automatic playoff entrant.

Armed with the young talents of Cunningham, Beasley, and more, the Pistons (38-31) have rendered last year's 14-win disaster long forgotten and are well on pace to end their five-year postseason drought, which is tied for the second-longest in the NBA behind Charlotte (8). Detroit leads this year's regular season series 2-1 with one more get-together slated for April 10 in Motown.

Perhaps Haslem is feeling a little raw over recent metropolitan events: the Knicks recently secured a season sweep of his beloved Heat for the first time since 1992-93, settling the affair with a 116-95 blowout win at Madison Square Garden on Monday night. The Knicks will have a chance to start proving Haslem wrong on Wednesday when they open a back-to-back road trip against the San Antonio Spurs (8 p.m. ET, MSG).

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Editor-In-Chief at All Knicks

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