Knicks or Nets: Which team will put Big Apple on notice in '23-24?

New York and Brooklyn split their 2-game season series in 2022-23.

NBA basketball returns Oct. 24. We are counting down the days like the seconds on a shot clock — literally, that’s what we’re doing. As of Oct. 1, our writers will list 24 storylines heading into the 2023-24 NBA season.

A new storyline will drop each day. Here is No. 8:

The Knicks – not the Nets – are a big deal in the Big Apple. Here’s why.

Let’s keep it 100 here: the Knicks will always be the bigger deal in the Big Apple than the Nets regardless of how well or poorly either team is playing. It’s simply the history of the city’s fanbase, similar to the Yankees and Mets in MLB or Giants and Jets in the NFL.

But in this specific case, the Knicks made themselves must-watch TV last season by piecing together their deepest playoff run since 2012-13. That all was thanks to the leadership, playmaking, grit and tenacity of Jalen Brunson, who sizzled with career highs in several statistical categories and helped the club reach the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Brunson embodied exactly what the franchise needed and played a major role in Julius Randle returning to form as one of the more formidable power forwards in the NBA. En route, Randle earned his second All-Star nod and third-team All-NBA honors in 2022-23.

The mid-season addition of Brunson’s former college teammate, Josh Hart, only enhanced the team’s newfound chemistry. We witnessed continued growth from R.J. Barrett, Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley, who finished second last season in Kia Sixth Man of the Year voting. Throw in strong FIBA World Cup showings over the summer from Brunson and Barrett (along with the addition of yet another ex-Villanova star in Donte DiVincenzo) and you can see why the Knicks enter 2022-23 with soaring expectations.

Don’t sleep on Brooklyn, though. The Nets are intriguing on multiple fronts. Finally, the organization made the right call on a coach in Jacque Vaughn by removing the interim tag. Brooklyn then held on down the stretch after the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving and advanced to the postseason for the fifth consecutive season.

Granted more opportunities in Brooklyn, defensive stalwart Mikal Bridges morphed into an offensive playmaker with the Nets after being dealt there in the Durant trade. If Ben Simmons returns to form, he’ll mesh well with Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Johnson, Nic Claxton and Dorian Finney-Smith. Bridges, Simmons and Finney-Smith could prove downright suffocating on the defensive end.

Even still, New York remains a Knicks town heading into 2022-23.

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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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