The New York Knicks will enter the 2024-25 NBA season as one of the favorites to win the Eastern Conference. After a busy offseason, the team looks to be a surefire NBA Finals contender.

One of the big moves of the offseason was the trade with the Brooklyn Nets to bring in Mikal Bridges. Unfortunately, the Knicks also lost key role player and big man Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency.

While the loss of Hartenstein will be tough to replace, New York has to feel good about its roster.

CBS Sports certainly is high on many of the players on the roster. They have placed four Knicks players among the top 25 in the Eastern Conference.

Julius Randle was ranked No. 25, OG Anunoby was ranked No. 21, Mikal Bridges was ranked No. 19, and Jalen Brunson was ranked No. 4.

Those four players are all more than capable of powering the team’s offense on any given night.

Left off the list were Josh Hart and Donte DiVencenzo. Both of those players performed at a very high level during the postseason last year and could be in store for big-time years this season.

New York is in a great place. Their biggest competition in the East will come from the Boston Celtics, although both the Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks will be tough teams to play as well. The Knicks certainly have a shot at winning the East if they can stay healthy.

It will be interesting to see how the new-look team gels together. Bridges, Brunson, Hart, and DiVencenzo are all Villanova players and their chemistry likely won’t be any problem at all. However, the entire team will need to come together.

Tom Thibodeau has the best roster he has ever coached on his hands. Hopefully, he’ll be able to lead it to the level of play that New York is expecting to put on the court.

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