Knicks, Thunder, Magic and more NBA teams with bright futures

Made it to the second round of the playoffs, the Knicks escaped two decades of poverty by doing the opposite of what had become the norm at Madison Square Garden. They stopped trading draft picks for aging stars, instead drafting and developing a young core of two-way, high-character players in RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Quentin Grimes, Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin. Executive Leon Rose and general manager Scott Perry avoided a trade except for the midseason fleece of Josh Hart. Instead, they re-signed All-NBA Second Team selection Julius Randle, as well as Barrett and Robinson for team friendly arrangements. Last summer, the best signing in franchise history, Jalen Brunson was dealt with a two-decade deficit. They have all the picks from 2024, plus protected first-round picks from Washington, Milwaukee, Dallas and Detroit. They can bring in a star player this summer or whenever they see fit to make a trade. In the last few decades the owns the best the Knicks have put together for now and the future.