The New York Knicks have a wealth of talent, elite coaching, and a strong culture on both sides of the basketball. So what seems to be the problem with the 5-6 ball club and how can it be fixed?
Knicks desperately need bench scoring and depth at center
The Knicks have as formidable a starting five as there is in the NBA. However, their bench is thin and their rotation at center is banged up. The Knicks (19.3 points per game) have the lowest-scoring bench in the Association.
Further, New York is currently without Mitchell Robinson and Precious Achiuwa, while All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns holds down the center slot by and large. Thankfully for them, the Knicks have not suffered much on the boards, as they still own positive differentials of 1.7 rebounds and 0.6 offensive rebounds on the glass, areas in which Robinson excelled in the previous campaign.
Nevertheless, seeing that they have not started the season as planned and are dealing with the injury bug yet again, the franchise may need to entertain making final adjustments to the roster to cap off nearly a year of hyperactivity in the trade market.
Knicks could look for roster fixes yet again ahead of 2024 trade deadline
Thus, the Knicks will likely be set with Cam Payne and Miles McBride in their backcourt reserve unit, but the franchise could desperately use a pure scorer at backup small forward, as well as a physical, defensive-oriented center who can stay healthy to swap for the oft-injured Robinson. Russell Richardson of Posting and Toasting shared these insights from a string of reports that identified where the Knicks may be going wrong schematically:
“According to Pelton, the Knicks are allocating ‘more than 74% of their minutes to their five starters, the highest percentage for any team in the NBA.’ This heavy reliance on starters is a hallmark of Tom Thibodeau, but it poses issues when the injury bug strikes,” Richardson wrote.
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Backup centers Precious Achiuwa and Mitchell Robinson remain sidelined, guard Cameron Payne recently missed games due to a hamstring strain, and Knicks’ rotational players are often listed as “questionable” on the injury report. Pelton rightly emphasizes that “New York is going to need reinforcements to get through an 82-game schedule.”
Thus, the Knicks could keep their ears pricked for players hitting the trade block until February. The market is rather thin for a player that fits their bill at the moment, but Jonathan Kuminga (Golden State Warriors) is likely to be dealt by the deadline and could be a young talent with major scoring upside that the Knicks could come out of left field for with an offer of picks and assets to acquire. Other names that could fit the bill, at center in particular, include Charlotte Hornets center Nick Richards and Detroit Pistons five-man Isaiah Stewart.
