Every summer brings a new set of predictions, but not every summer follows a championship parade through the Canyon of Heroes. This one does, and it changes how people are looking at the Knicks.
New York spent years chasing this kind of respect. Now the conversations about next season sound different, and one outlet just made that shift official before a single ball tips this fall.
Knicks Land No. 1 Spot in Preseason Rankings
Getty Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Josh Hart
The Athletic released its NBA Power Rankings for the 2026-27 season, and the Knicks sit at the very top of the list. It is the first time in over five decades the franchise enters a season as the outlet’s top-ranked team.
1. Knicks 2. Spurs 3. Thunder 4. 76ers 5. Cavs 6. Pistons 7. Celtics 8. Lakers 9. Wolves 10. Rockets 11. Nuggets 12. Raptors 13. Hawks 14. Heat 15. Pacers 16. Magic 17. Blazers 18. Suns 19. Hornets 20. Warriors 21.
San Antonio landed at No. 2, followed by Oklahoma City at No. 3. Philadelphia and Cleveland rounded out the top five. Detroit, Boston, and the Lakers followed just behind them.
The ranking comes months after New York beat the Spurs in five games to win the 2025-26 NBA Finals, the franchise’s first title since 1973. That kind of drought makes a No. 1 preseason ranking feel like more than just a number on a list.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns anchored that championship run, and both return with the core mostly intact heading into training camp. Continuity matters in these rankings, and New York has plenty of it after a summer that saw them keep their main pieces together.
What This Means Heading Into Training Camp
GettyJalen Brunson
Preseason rankings do not decide anything once the games start, but they do set expectations. For a team that spent years being picked to fall short, sitting at No. 1 is a real shift in how the league views them.
The Spurs and Thunder right behind them make it clear the West is loaded again, with San Antonio pushing hard after its own deep run last spring. The East picture looks different too, with Philadelphia and Cleveland both viewed as legitimate threats to New York’s spot.
Detroit cracking the top six stands out as one of the bigger surprises in the early rankings, a sign that the league’s hierarchy is shifting in more places than just the top.
For Knicks fans, the ranking is a nice moment to sit with before camp opens. It confirms what last season’s run already proved, that this roster belongs among the league’s best heading into the fall.
New York enters the season as the team to beat for the first time in a long while. The roster is largely the same one that won it all, and the league seems to agree they are built to do it again.
Knicks Get Major Recognition Ahead of 2026-27 NBA Season