New York started their title-contending season with a losing record through one week of play.
It feels to me like it’s been a month of play since the Knicks kicked off their title-winning season against the reigning champs in Boston, but it turns out it’s been just seven days and change.I
In any case, and with the first week of NBA hoops in the books, it’s time for pundits and analysts across the nation to start cooking their Week 1 power rankings even though the sample is, well, let’s say tiny.
As we all know, the New York Knicks haven’t had the best possible start to the 2024-25 season putting up a 1-2 record in what is, entering Wednesday’s matchup at Miami, a losing balance three games into the campaign.
That said, considering the Knicks had to face three teams expected to make it past the first round of the playoffs while navigating a depleted roster featuring many new faces, winning .333 of their games ain’t that bad.
Here’s a roundup of all Power Rankings posted through Tuesday’s matchups to get the temperature of how the Knicks are perceived among the honchos of the basketball nation.
NBA — No. 5 — New York Knicks
John Schuhmann of NBA.com ranked the Knicks at no. 5, dropping two spots from his previews edition published a week ago.
It’s worth noting that Schuhmann released his rankings before the Knicks lost to the Cavs on Monday, which makes it fair to assume New York would have dropped even further had that loss been factored into the ranks.
“The Knicks’ mixed results in Week 1 were probably more about the opponents — the difference between the Celtics and everybody else — than the Knicks themselves.
“Though the different results were almost entirely about the defensive end of the floor, the Knicks did retain almost 30% of available offensive rebounds on Friday. Three nights earlier, they retained just 18.4%, what would have been their second-lowest rate last season (95 total games, including playoffs). Towns improves their initial offense, but it will be interesting to track how much of their rebounding advantage they’ve lost.”
The Knicks’ ranking had them only behind the Celtics, Thunder, Lakers, and Cavaliers at the time of Schumann’s publication.
The Athletic — No. 13 — New York Knicks
Law Murray of The Athletic waited until Tuesday to put out his initial round of rankings, dropping the Knicks all the way down to the no. 13 spot in them.
That’s a steep fall from the last time he shared his rankings, as the Knicks slotted in sixth place before the season.
“The Big Question: Is this team too top-heavy? The Knicks used six future first-round picks to acquire Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns, while also sacrificing Donte DiVincenzo.
“It gives New York an awesome group of talent while still maintaining an acceptable quota of Villanova players, but only one other player on the roster right now is worthy of playing more than 20 minutes per game, and that is shooting guard Miles McBride.
“Sure, New York will get injured bigs Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson back at some point, but that’s part of the concern as well: When have you seen a Tom Thibodeau team make it to and through a postseason in one piece?”
With the Knicks ranking pretty much in the middle of nowhere, it makes no sense to mention all of the teams above and below them, but just for context, Murray put the Heat, the Clippers, and the Pelicans above them.
ESPN — No. 8 — New York Knicks
The ESPN panel opted to drop the Knicks three places from their preseason rank at no. 5 just before they put on a 1-2 record to start the year.
With the column highlighting one newcomer per team, it’s obviously going to be both Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges in the case of New York.
“We could cite the bench contributions of someone such as Cameron Payne or even rookie backup center Ariel Hukporti, who has been useful with New York having two injured big men (Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson) on the roster.
“But Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges — averaging a combined 34 points and 19 boards through three games — were always going to be the most impactful newcomers with this group.
“How they gel with their teammates probably will dictate whether the Knicks can make a run to the conference finals and beyond.”
The Knicks’ fall meant the Suns, Lakers, Wolves, Mavericks, and Cavaliers—not counting Boston and Oklahoma City—leapfrogged New York in ESPN’s rankings.
Yahoo — No. 11 — New York Knicks
Finally, Ben Rohrbach will be taking care of curating the weekly power rankings over Yahoo this season and he debuted his ranks on Tuesday, right in time to catch the Knicks in between their Monday loss to Cleveland and Wednesday’s trip to Miami.
“When the Knicks opened the locker room to the media after their season-opening loss to Boston, Karl-Anthony Towns covered his face with a towel to keep us from seeing a jovial mood. Let’s just say it was notable when contrasted with the rest of the room.”
In Rorbach’s eyes, the Memphis Grizzlies and the Denver Nuggets have had better starts to the season than New York, which is something a bit surprising given the schedules and outcomes through Monday’s matchups.
The Knicks will give analysts three more games to take into consideration before they cook the next batch of power rankings for next week, all of them part of a road trip including visits to Miami, Detroit (Friday), and Houston (Monday).
What are your thoughts on the ranks above? Where do you have the Knicks ranked in the early season? Drop your hot takes in the comments section below!