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The New York Knicks were the most active team in the offseason, completing two blockbuster trades since the beginning of July to beef up their already talented roster.
There’s no question about it: The Knicks are pushing all of their metaphorical chips in the middle.
First, they unloaded a plethora of draft capital to the Brooklyn Nets to bring in Mikal Bridges. Then, they parted ways with Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to bring in Karl-Anthony Towns.
With expectations for the Knicks sky-high, let’s take a look at their win total for this season (53.5) and predict whether they go over or under the NBA‘s third-highest projection.
2024-25 NBA Eastern Conference win totals
| Team | Total | Team | Total | Team | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Celtics | 58.5 | Pacers | 47.5 | Raptors | 29.5 |
| Knicks | 53.5 | Magic | 47.5 | Bulls | 28.5 |
| Bucks | 50.5 | Heat | 44.5 | Pistons | 25.5 |
| 76ers | 50.5 | Hawks | 36.5 | Wizards | 20.5 |
| Cavaliers | 48.5 | Hornets | 30.5 | Nets | 18.5 |
2024-25 NBA win totals: Knicks prediction
The Knicks finally had the breakthrough season they had been hoping for, winning 50 games in 2023-24 and making an Eastern Conference semifinals appearance before falling to a combination of the injury bug and the high-octane Pacers.
It was their first season since the 2012-13 campaign in which they cleared the 50-win mark. With a revamped team, can they win 54 games and clear this sizable win total?
Simply put: Yes, they can.
The Knicks moved on from Julius Randle, a ball-dominant frontcourt player, and added Towns, a floor-stretching, do-it-all big man. Wave goodbye to the desert-like offensive droughts.
The Knicks recognized a few of their flaws last season and went into the offseason determined to fix them, even if it meant trading away good players and hurting some feelings.
First, the Knicks realized they could not rely on Mitchell Robinson to stay healthy, which left a gaping hole at the center position, especially since Isaiah Hartenstein departed for Oklahoma City.
Second, they recognized that Jalen Brunson is the clear-cut focal point of the offense, making it challenging to effectively utilize Randle’s skillset. Both parties needed to move on.
And, lastly, they agreed that in order for their offense to be more efficient, a stretch five and a pair of knock-down, 3-and-D wings (with some scoring talent) were going to be necessary additions to have a shot of actualizing their championship dreams.
But they didn’t just acquire any random 3-and-D wing; they traded for Bridges to pair with O.G. Anunoby — two of the most versatile, switchable wings in the entire league.
The “Anunoby experiment” paid instant dividends after he was acquired in December, as the Knicks won 20 of their 23 regular-season games when he was in the lineup.
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They also had a ridiculous net rating of +13.2 when he was available. For reference, the 64-win Celtics had a net rating of +11.7.
Even more impressive is the fact that a large portion of those games were without Robinson and Randle, too.
2024-25 NBA win totals pick: Knicks
There are never guarantees in sports, especially at the professional level, where the margin of error between good and great is razor-thin.
However, this Knicks team is loaded with talent and should have no problem logging 54 or more wins, even in an improved Eastern Conference, as long as they stay relatively healthy.
Best bet: Knicks over 53.5 wins (-115, FanDuel)
Why Trust New York Post Betting
Andrew Norton handicaps the NBA, WNBA, NFL, college basketball and football, UFC and golf. During the 2022-23 NBA season, he achieved a standout 14.1% ROI, cashing 60% of his NBA spread picks and leading Tallysight in its SportsIQ metric.