It’s the part that nobody wants to start thinking about.
Once the parade is over, once the liquor stops flowing, once the celebrations are fully in the past, reality comes roaring back. That means tricky offseason decisions. That means already thinking about what gives them the best chance to defend their title.
President Leon Rose and his staff have gotten their deserved flowers for the job they did building the Knicks into champions. The Jalen Brunson signing, the OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns trades, and the shrewdness in beefing up the bench.
But it will be difficult — or costly — to bring back such a deep squad.