Over the years, the NY Knicks have had their fair share of Power Forwards leading the team.
For whatever reason, it seems to be one of the stronger positions the Knicks have had throughout their entire existence.
One of the most notable players at the position of course was Charles Oakley.
He acted as the team’s enforcer and spent 10 years with the organization, appearing in one All-Star game.
I’ve been a Knicks fan since birth but I only started really paying attention to the team when they brought on one of the best power forwards in team history, Amar’e Stoudemire.
Stoudemire scored 25.3 points per game while grabbing 8.2 rebounds in his first season in the orange and blue.
What could the NY Knicks’ PF Depth chart look like this year?
The team decided to build around ‘STAT’ and his success by acquiring Carmelo Anthony, but unfortunately, the team weakened itself a bit too much with that trade and never made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs as a unit.
Another notable Power Forward, for all the wrong reasons, was Kristaps Porzingis.
Finally, it seemed that the Knicks’ fortunes were turning around after selecting the 7-foot-3 Latvian 4th overall in the 2015 NBA Draft.
The bulk of the fanbase was devastated by the choice but soon came around to Porzingis as he took over as the team’s 2nd best player in short order.
This resulted in an All-Star appearance in the 2017-18 season with a stat line of 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game.
Unfortunately, the love affair with KP was short-lived, as he was no longer happy with his situation in New York and demanded a trade out.
Fortunately for the Knicks, the trade that was once viewed as a ‘fleecing’ by Dallas has no swung back in the Knicks’ favor pretty heavily.
I even wrote an article a while back detailing why I believed the Knicks did in fact win the trade, hands down.
As we can see, the Knicks have been led by Power Forwards for quite some time now, and it’s no different today.
Here’s a very early prediction of what the Knicks’ power forward depth chart could look like.
Julius Randle will most certainly be the starting PF for the NY Knicks
The unquestioned leader of the New York Knickerbockers.
And to think…my first article with Daily Knicks was about 3 trades the team could explore before last season started and all of them included the name, Julius Randle.
I don’t think there’s been a player in the history of the NBA that’s been able to turn his whole career around within one season the way Julius was able to last year.
To go from a guy the entire city of New York wanted gone to an All-Star appearance, 2nd Team All-NBA, Most Improved Player award, and leading a team to host a playoff series.
The change was unprecedented.
Julius is now tasked to lead a much-improved roster a little bit closer to the promised land.
The front office couldn’t have done a much better job this summer of building around both Julius and RJ Barrett.
It seems like the Knicks brought back the guys who needed to be back while upgrading in much-needed areas like both starting guard spots.
Randle recently accepted a 4-year, $117 million contract extension a few weeks back instead of gambling on himself and holding out for next offseason where he could have gotten upwards of $200 million.
When asked about why he chose this path, Randle proclaimed:
"“Part of the reason why I took the deal was because of the culture,” Randle said on Friday. “…. We’re all a family, we enjoy being around each other and we have that trust. So even if I left money on the table, I trust that in the long run, it’s going to pay off. “I trust Leon (Rose), I trust Wes (William Wesley), I trust Scott (Perry), Thibs (Tom Thibodeau), all those guys, that they’re going to give us the best possible chance and put us in the best position now and in the future to bring a championship to the Knicks.” “That’s what it’s about. I don’t know if I can make that commitment anywhere else. It really speaks to the culture we have here, me being able to trust the guys that are helping us and working to get us the best possible team. Anybody that comes in, that’s here, they have to fit into that culture. And Wes and Leon and those guys have done a great job of building that atmosphere for us.”"
We should see yet another spectacular season out of Randle as the starting Power Forward, especially with the Knicks’ front office really loading the roster this summer.
Obi Toppin will be the backup PF for the NY Knicks
Drafted as Julius Randle’s replacement, Obi Toppin should be penciled in as the backup Power Forward but has a tall task ahead of him.
The fact remains that no one saw Julius Randle’s season coming and so the team did what they thought was best in drafting his heir apparent during the 2020 NBA Draft.
I’d have to imagine the thought process was for the team to grab guys who fit the timelines of players like RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson a bit better.
Then, once Toppin established himself as a viable option at the 4, Randle would be moved at the trade deadline.
Things couldn’t have actually worked out any more differently.
Instead, the Knicks got a version of Julius Randle the world had never seen and this left Obi Toppin scratching and clawing for minutes last year, amassing just 11 per game during the 2020-21 campaign.
It also took quite a while for Obi to get a grasp on the speed of play in the NBA, as there were times where he looked like a baby fawn out there with two left feet.
As the season progressed, we got better and better versions of Toppin and we may have seen the absolute best version of the Dayton product during the playoff series against the Hawks.
Toppin went on to become one of the best players during this season’s NBA Summer League and was named to the First Team All-Summer League roster.
That said, as much as I would love to see Obi get more burn out there and have him realize his potential while on the Knicks, I don’t see him being here much longer.
There’s a handful of names on this roster that I could see traded sooner than later and Obi Toppin’s name sits atop that list.
But for now, he’s a solid backup Power Forward for a playoff-bound Knicks team.
Do you think Kevin Knox should be the NY Knicks’ 3rd string PF?
So, similarly to my previous 3 articles predicting the depth chart, the 3rd string player is a huge question mark.
Although I would much rather the Knicks trade Kevin Knox for some future value while also allowing Knox to go to a rebuilding team where he could get some actual playing time, it looks like the Knicks are done wheeling and dealing for the offseason.
Therefore, Kevin Knox will be the 3rd string Power Forward on the roster to start the season.
Likely to be yet another high draft pick of the Knicks’ who wasn’t able to break the Charlie Ward curse and secure a 2nd contract by the team that drafted him.
I’m on the record saying that if the Knicks messed around and went with anyone other than Michael Porter Jr in 2018, I’d be incredibly upset.
Of course, the front office didn’t listen to me back then and we ended up with Kentucky’s Kevin Knox.
During the preseason and even early on in the beginning of last season, it looked like Knox was carving out a nice bench role for himself where he could at the very least hit a corner 3 when called upon.
But as the season progressed, Kevin’s role diminished. The kid just lacks motor, unfortunately.
I could definitely see Knox being traded before the season begins or even at next season’s trade deadline, but for now, this is where he’ll be.
If Dwayne Bacon makes the 15-man roster, I could see him getting some time at the 3rd-string 4 spot ahead of Knox.
Taj Gibson could perhaps get some time there if need be as well.
Even if Knox is penciled in as the 3rd stringer here, he’s still likely going to be one of the last guys off the bench.