As the 2024-25 season nears, the Knicks pulled off a blockbuster trade to acquire Karl-Anthony Towns.
After their deal with their cross-town rival in Brooklyn to bring Mikal Bridges aboard, they arguably became the top external threat to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
Towns and Bridges join Jalen Brunson, last year's in-season acquisition, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart to form a starting five that, in the eyes of ESPN's Bobby Marks, who spent five years as the assistant general manager for the Nets, is more impressive than the reigning NBA champions' first unit.
When they're at full strength, Boston's starting lineup features Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Kristaps Porzingis.
While Brunson's coming off an All-NBA campaign and Towns is a four-time All-Star, the rest of the Knicks' top unit is yet to accomplish either accolade.
Not only do the Celtics boast a pair of wings who have earned All-NBA honors, but Porzingis and Holiday are former All-Stars, and White played at that level last season.
Furthermore, Al Horford, who responded to shouldering more of a workload while Porzingis dealt with injuries in the playoffs by raising his game, is a former All-NBA selection and likely a future Hall of Famer.
But what matters even more than past accolades is that Boston's starting five has a continuity advantage from battling together throughout a championship run that the Celtics can now build on.
The Knicks' reshaped core may click from day one, just as Boston's did, especially when considering the familiarity between former Villanova stars Brunson, Bridges, and Hart. However, they don't enter the season at the same starting point as the Celtics' on that front, even with Porzingis sidelined to begin the 2024-25 campaign. There's no guarantee they'll catch up, either.
