Game One of the 2025 NBA Finals tips off on Friday, June 6 and the time in-between is just perfect to reflect on the Indiana Pacers’ Eastern Conference title winning feat. Winning the East means Indiana will compete in the NBA Finals for the first time in 25 years but that win came at the expense of the long suffering New York Knicks that are yet to reach an NBA Finals since the 1998-1999 season.
In the post-Carmelo Anthony years, the Knicks were a directionless franchise but those days are seemingly over thanks to head coach Tom Thibodeau and General Manager Leon Rose. In three straight seasons, the Knicks have competed in the Eastern Conference semifinals and showed its improvement by making it to Conference Finals.
However, the series ended in a 4-2 win for Indiana and New York’s roster depth looked shallow and ill-equipped to deal with the Pacers well rounded and deep group.
Indiana’s Pascal Siakam ended up winning the Eastern Conference Finals MVP to the shock of many ahead of Pacers lead point guard Tyrese Haliburton but it did little to sway people from the notion that a team needs at least two closers to make it to the NBA Finals and win it all.
Golden State Warriors prime years had Steph Curry and Klay Thompson as the closers with Curry and Kevin Durant doing same later down the line. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led Denver Nuggets to the title as did Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday for Milwaukee Bucks.
As great as Kobe Bryant was, he didn’t win a title without Shaquille O’Neal and Pau Gasol and that is exactly what the Knicks need; a co-closer for Jalen Brunson. By splitting hairs to determine Pascal Siakam as the Conference Finals MVP, it is clear that the Pacers have their closers in Siakam and Haliburton but the Knicks have just Jalen Brunson.
While the last statement might ruffle some considering the talent and production this season from Karl-Anthony Towns, the 6 foot 11 inch former Minnesota Timberwolves player’s reported fallout with the Knicks has eliminated from him from ever being one on the team. Apparently, Knicks players weren’t impressed with Towns’ “defensive habits” and lack of communication from Towns over such defensive habits.
Towns was needed to be on the court with Brunson at all times to serve as the defensive stopper in the interior who supplements the offense with his shooting but he consistently failed to do that particularly on the defensive side.
This post season revelation shows why Knicks players didn’t go to the defense of Towns in his row with Draymond Green and went ahead to exchange pleasantries with Green when New York played against Golden State Warriors making the ground fertile for a trade to be made.
New York Knicks need a closer to pair with Jalen Brunson and a closer doesn’t get any better than Kevin Durant who is dead set on getting traded from the Phoenix Suns.
Trading Durant to the Knicks for a package of Towns and Mikal Bridges heading to Phoenix is the rare win-win situation in the NBA. Bridges isn’t the greatest or most consistent offensive threat in the league but does a great job defensively but his defensive chops are quite redundant in a starting unit that has OG Anunoby and Josh Hart.
Beyond that, Bridges made himself unpopular with Knicks’ coaching staff by questioning the heavy minutes Knicks starters played this past season. Towns would make for a fine Power Forward playing alongside a center like Mason Plumlee while Bridges makes for a fine small forward with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal manning the guard spots in Phoenix.
After missing the NBA Playoffs, having such a roster gives Phoenix depth and ammunition to shoot their way up the standings into a Western Conference Playoff Semifinalist contender. Bridges played for the Phoenix Suns from 2018 to 2023 and a reunion is just due after the Suns mistakenly traded away its young core of Bridges, Deandre Ayton and Cam Johnson a few months after playing in the 2021 NBA Finals.
Basketball is a sport that welcomes all to play but gravitates towards tall people and the Knicks realized this in a harsh way as key piece Jalen Brunson got blanketed by the Pacers and largely struggled throughout the series.
WNBA legend Becky Hammon got crucified for stating that Brunson is too small to be a 1A Player on a Championship winning team but her theory was proven right looking at the way the series panned out.
As such, trading for a tall scoring machine like Kevin Durant is the boost New York need even if they have to play the offensively limited but defensively sound Mitchell Robinson as a starter.
Offensively, Durant is clearly a cut above Towns while Robinson’s defensive chops are better than Towns and pairing Robinson, Durant and Brunson alongside Hart and Anunoby represents a perfectly balanced roster capable of winning the NBA title.
Based on the trajectory of his career, it is clear that Durant is likely to be off the Knicks roster after two seasons but that timeline fits right into Knicks title window before the inevitable makeover of the team kicks in.
Durant spent a torrid time filled with injuries in New York during his time with the Brooklyn Nets and after playing for the little brother of the New York basketball teams, it is only right that a player of Durant’s calibre deserves to play for the big brother New York basketball team.
In recent years, the Knicks have taken swings in their attempt to build a sustainable run at winning a title by trading for Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges and that has worked to an extent but the time is now to take the biggest swing of all by making a move to get Kevin Durant to win the NBA title.
