August 28, 2026
Brad Penner/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Andre Drummond is Karl-Anthony Towns' new backup center.
After acquiring Jaylen Brown and LeBron James in the same offseason, Sixers President of Basketball Operations Mike Gansey has set his new team up to be a full-blown championship contender.
The only problem: ahead of the 2026-27 season, the Eastern Conference is shaping up to be as competitive as ever.
Over the next two weeks, PhillyVoice will be examining the 10 teams in the Eastern Conference which pose the greatest threats to James, Brown, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe and the Sixers.
Up next: the New York Knicks, set to defend their crown as reigning champions for the first time in 53 years. The Knicks brought their entire title-winning rotation back – except for backup five Mitchell Robinson, replaced by former Sixers center Andre Drummond.
How does Drummond fit in New York, and do the Knicks have what it takes to repeat?
SCOUTING THE SIXERS' COMPETITION
Wizards | Magic | Hawks | Heat | Raptors
Cavaliers | Pacers | Pistons | Celtics | Knicks
With an ownership-imposed mandate to stay below the second apron, New York had no chance of keeping Robinson without impacting its starting lineup. But the Knicks did incredible work to retain all four of their other free agents with real chances of being rotation pieces next season:
| Added | Retained | Lost |
| Andre Drummond | Landry Shamet | Mitchell Robinson |
| Jose Alvarado | Ariel Hukporti | |
| Mohamed Diawara | Jeremy Sochan | |
| Jordan Clarkson |
While Drummond is far from the player Robinson is at this stage of their careers, the veteran will bring his own dominant brand of rebounding and a newfound corner three-point stroke. For a veteran's minimum salary, the Knicks could have done a whole lot worse than Drummond, especially considering that price tag allowed them to retain all four of Landry Shamet, Jose Alvarado, Mohamed Diawara and Jordan Clarkson.
SIXERS FILM STUDIES
Jaylen Brown's strengths | Jaylen Brown's weaknesses
Anfernee Simons | Dean Wade | Ariel Hukporti
Aside from Drummond replacing Robinson, the Knicks will rely on the same cast of characters which led them to the mountaintop last season:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Jalen Brunson | Mikal Bridges | OG Anunoby | Josh Hart | Karl-Anthony Towns |
| Jose Alvarado | Miles McBride | Landry Shamet | Mohamed Diawara | Andre Drummond |
| Tyler Kolek | Jordan Clarkson | Pacôme Dadiet |
One player to watch here is Diawara, a forward with great size and shooting ability whose flashes at various points last season were fairly tantalizing. He could play his way into making this a 10-man rotation; Knicks head coach Mike Brown has been willing to dig deep into his bench.
The Knicks have done a masterful job of insulating Jalen Brunson, allowing their superstar guard to focus on driving elite offense without worry of being exploited too much defensively. New York's blend of size, physicality and versatility is outstanding on that end of the floor, though downgrading from a rim protector like Robinson to Drummond will hurt.
MORE: Dominick Barlow 'willing to play wherever' to help LeBron James and the Sixers
The two players drafted by the Sixers in the first round of the 2018 NBA Draft, Mikal Bridges and Shamet, are both going to be remembered forever for their roles in the Knicks' 2026 NBA Finals victory. Bridges shook off an up-and-down season and brutal start to the playoffs, eventually emerging as the actualized version of himself which prompted the Knicks to trade a massive collection of draft picks away. He became the exact player the Sixers were eager to welcome into their building... for a matter of moments.
Shamet, initially signed to a non-guaranteed contract for the veteran's minimum salary, became a cult hero with his toughness, grit, point-of-attack defense and clutch shot-making. When the Sixers drafted Shamet out of Wichita State University, some saw him as a one-dimensional player whose career would go as far as his jumper would take him. He has become so much more than a shooter, in what has been one of the best developmental stories in the NBA over the last few years.
SIXERS SIGN LEBRON JAMES
James' decision | Projecting Sixers' rotation | James' impact, on and off the court
