2026 NBA Season

[Botnake]

I think this is the worst celebration I have witnessed from an NBA champion.

https://nypost.com/2026/06/14/us-news/63-people-arrested-in-violent-nyc-night-as-knicks-fans-celebrate-nba-finals-win/

That is unfortunate, they just could not control their happiness and probably those people involved were influenced by liquor or illegal drugs, sad for those who were innocent but were in the event and got hurt.

But I just want to say congratulations to the Knicks, I think I have not posted in this thread yet, they just achieved an easy journey in winning the championship, and Brunson is a very underrated player who deserves all the praise. After this, we do not know when the Knicks will be champions again since it is hard to win back to back in the NBA based on the record.

[Fredomago]

New York became champions after 53 years.
Jalen Brunson undoubtedly deserves the biggest credit for this.
He scored 45 points in this game.
He may be one of the players with the highest average scoring in NBA Finals.
He has also scored high in previous games.
Brunson was named MVP of the game.

Its a legendary run for Brunson, because aside from performing good thru all out of the series and made that 45 points on game 5.

He's sacrifices to take more lower pay cut to help Knicks build a championship team and win a championship this season is truly amazing. This championship they get is been considered as the best on their franchise history.

So no doubt he deserve to get all love and those awards.

I agree to that and for sure that effort that he made was justified after winning the title, and the management will give him decent bonuses after allowing to adjust to build a competitive squad,all the love and praises he and his squad deserves after that title run, for now, let them celebrate whatever perks that the management will give them as it was a 53 years long delay to win one and be crown as world title.

[Vaculin]

I agree to that and for sure that effort that he made was justified after winning the title, and the management will give him decent bonuses after allowing to adjust to build a competitive squad,all the love and praises he and his squad deserves after that title run, for now, let them celebrate whatever perks that the management will give them as it was a 53 years long delay to win one and be crown as world title.

They will get a huge bonus, in fact its already reported.

https://basketnews.com/news-249743-jeremy-sochan-double-salary-knicks-title-bonus.html

Knicks players are set for major bonuses after winning the NBA title, with Jeremy Sochan among the biggest beneficiaries as his reported $770,000 payout nearly matches his $806,000 salary.

For the starters i think they will get a bigger bonus, especially Brunson who has the MVP.
They have been waiting for this a long time and now finally happen, knicks for sure will not longer trade Brunson, and I also hope that he will retire with the knicks once he gets old and cannot be effective as he is anymore.

[passwordnow]

Giannis wanting to play with the Heat. This is big news and I think Heat's roster is also young so, we're getting the idea of what's the new meta now with the roster in the NBA. Will this happen?

[Velvet78]

Giannis wanting to play with the Heat. This is big news and I think Heat's roster is also young so, we're getting the idea of what's the new meta now with the roster in the NBA. Will this happen?

It sounds really interesting. A fresh start it would be for Giannis there. Heat roster is promising with their youngsters but they don't have a big star in the team.

Giannis would fill that space nicely in my opinion.    No matter what Giannis should leave Bucks at this point.

I don't know if he can be champion with Heat in the future but his chances would be higher than now I assume.

[livingfree]

It's now time for OP to change or remove the poll about the 2026 champions since we've got Knicks.

We move to the next season but I think we're going to be with the set of change in roster of teams and the series of trades.

Maybe the overall winner for the picks or some specific players which team they'll be going to replace the poll might be a good one or not really needed at all.

[Stavri]

New York became champions after 53 years.
Jalen Brunson undoubtedly deserves the biggest credit for this.
He scored 45 points in this game.
He may be one of the players with the highest average scoring in NBA Finals.
He has also scored high in previous games.
Brunson was named MVP of the game.

Its a legendary run for Brunson, because aside from performing good thru all out of the series and made that 45 points on game 5.

He's sacrifices to take more lower pay cut to help Knicks build a championship team and win a championship this season is truly amazing. This championship they get is been considered as the best on their franchise history.

So no doubt he deserve to get all love and those awards.

yeah Brunson’s Curryfication process was amazing. Plus, the sacrifice he made on his contract totally made me lose respect for Lebron...
and it was funny that Trump showed up to the only game they lost in the finals  

[Fredomago]

I agree to that and for sure that effort that he made was justified after winning the title, and the management will give him decent bonuses after allowing to adjust to build a competitive squad,all the love and praises he and his squad deserves after that title run, for now, let them celebrate whatever perks that the management will give them as it was a 53 years long delay to win one and be crown as world title.

They will get a huge bonus, in fact its already reported.

https://basketnews.com/news-249743-jeremy-sochan-double-salary-knicks-title-bonus.html

Knicks players are set for major bonuses after winning the NBA title, with Jeremy Sochan among the biggest beneficiaries as his reported $770,000 payout nearly matches his $806,000 salary.

For the starters i think they will get a bigger bonus, especially Brunson who has the MVP.
They have been waiting for this a long time and now finally happen, knicks for sure will not longer trade Brunson, and I also hope that he will retire with the knicks once he gets old and cannot be effective as he is anymore.

Hopefully, with the efforts that he made its better for NYK to recognize and gives him all the benefits, though we all knew that there's no sure thing as NBA is a business and we can't ignore the fact that once you are no longer useful then the team or the management will find ways to either trade you or not to give you another contract.

Let see if what future will dictate after the whole squad manage to bring that long awaited tittle and how the management will try to keep it ñ, I mean to try repeating it next season.

[el kaka22]

So they will have 3 centers then? Ayton, Hayes and then Gafford? Doesn't make any sense unless they will keep them just like what the Cavs do with their twin towers of Mobley and Jared Allen.

And if that happens then it's a good moved from the Lakers, as there have been talks of DK already in the past that he is going to be traded but maybe teams are not buying it and it will take another player like Vando to keep the roll balling for the Lakers.

What I'm good at seeing for Gafford going to LA is to become a perfect Luka partner, as we all know how Gafford + Luka work on a Finals level, but this could be now or never, let's see.
But I will still see Ayton as always starting center here for the entire LA team balance.

Also, the moves are not done yet, we are only in June so things could change further. Not sure if Gafford deal will be signed, we are just seeing rumours and that may still end up changing. But at the end of the day, if they do actually make that move, they can send away some of their own centres. One starting centre and one backup centre is enough, so the third one will be leaving.

The summer just begun, so there is still a lot of time left until teams could still make trades and Lakers will make some moves. I am sure it will not be easy but it will also not be impossible for them to do it either, we should be able to see this without much trouble and I think it will work out very well for them if they build around Luka.

[OgNasty]

Giannis wanting to play with the Heat. This is big news and I think Heat's roster is also young so, we're getting the idea of what's the new meta now with the roster in the NBA. Will this happen?

It sounds really interesting. A fresh start it would be for Giannis there. Heat roster is promising with their youngsters but they don't have a big star in the team.

Giannis would fill that space nicely in my opinion.    No matter what Giannis should leave Bucks at this point.

I don't know if he can be champion with Heat in the future but his chances would be higher than now I assume.

Pat Riley would get the right pieces around him. Him and Bam would be able to bully anyone in the front court. I’m sure they’d have no problem building around those two. The clock is running out though. I think Giannis wants the Miami lifestyle more than the team destination. He seems like a man that is ready to embrace and enjoy his fame.

[Stavri]

I REALLY REALLY did not expected a Knicks championship at the start of the season. If you asked me which team would be the champions in September, I would have probably ranked at least 5-6 other teams before I would rank Knicks, and while they did have a better regular season than I expected, I still didn't see them winning the title in the first round, and then the second round, I still did not.

By the time Spurs beat OKC, and got to finals, I still said Knicks would be destroyed because if Spurs can beat OKC, then they can beat Knicks. And somehow, some way, these Knicks found that power in them to get the win, and did not give up on any game and managed to win. Even in this game, last quarter they overscored by like 10 points to get the title. Amazing job by them, kudos.

Spurs were probably the only team capable of taking down OKC. they managed to do that and became the champions of our hearts
but this was the end of the road for them... coach and all the players were young and they fell victim to their own inexperience. They led for about 80% of the series but lost every single game by collapsing in the fourth quarters. Unbelievable rookie mistakes and blunders just piled up one after another.

They could have easily come into the final game with a 3-1 lead and won the championship on their home court but if you don't have a leader and a clutch player like Brunson, you just can't close it out. btw no disrespect though, New York Knicks absolutely deserved it. the championship went to the rightful winner..