How does the New York Knicks bench compare to others in the NBA?

The New York Knicks Bench vs The Utah Jazz Bench

Utah’s bench is the only one of the featured groups that I would say truly give the Knicks a run for their money.

The Jazz made several additions this offseason to bolster their depth. For a team that already employed the first and second place finishers for Sixth Man of the Year in Jordan Clarkson and Joe Ingles, they clearly felt they couldn’t have too many quality bench options.

After all, why should they? This is a team that dominated last year, in the Western Conference no less. The Jazz are well short of being a championship team come playoff time, so the message is clear for 2021-22: they aren’t messing around.

The brilliance of Clarkson and Ingles is now surrounded by Rudy Gay, Eric Paschall, and Hassan Whiteside. These players all compliment the starters very well and should be seamless fits.

Gay can go on a scoring or shooting tear at any moment, which is overkill when you consider the team already has Clarkson, Donovan Mitchell, and Bojan Bogdanovich.

Paschall is a young and burly power forward who has shown promise as an inside scoring and rebounding presence. He is a nice contrast at the four to the smaller perimeter-oriented Royce O’Neal.

Whiteside is a very, very water down version of Rudy Gobert. But, that is what makes him a good backup to Gobert. In a limited capacity, Whiteside can still be very effective. He can do everything Gobert can do: rim run, rebound at a very high level, and protect the rim by producing elite block numbers.

While I believe Rose is a better player than Clarkson and Ingles, they aren’t far behind him. All three players are incredible in their roles. I’d say all three are well ahead of the rest of the players the Knicks and Jazz have on the bench.

That being said, not only do the Jazz have two players that can contribute at such a high level, which is a clear edge over New York, the Jazz IMO also have players that are a better fit with the starters because they many of the Jazz players share the same strengths.

The New York Knicks stood pat, which was the right decision because their bench is a proven success with room to grow. The Jazz took their great bench and made it even better. That’s pretty crazy. The Knicks are more balanced, but that Utah bench while lacking defensively is potentially potent on offense.

Both of these reserve units are incredibly exceptional and are my 1A and 1B benches in the NBA.