Jeremy Sochan may not get a ton of minutes for the New York Knicks right away, but he should get his opportunities. That said, the Knicks need to make sure not to make the same mistake they made with Guerschon Yabusele. If they try to use Sochan as a power forward, it will not work out. Luckily, his defense should allow him to play the five relatively easily.
When Yabusele signed with the Knicks over the summer, he seemed destined to play a big role in their rotation. Obviously, Karl-Anthony Towns was always going to be the starter, but there seemed to be plenty of minutes open behind him. Yet the Knicks decided to play him more at the four than at the five.
And that didn’t work out well. So, the Knicks need to lean into Mike Brown's ideals when they use Sochan in order to utilize him correctly.
Knicks need to avoid playing Jeremy Sochan at the four
Last season, when Yabusele had his resurgence season with the Philadelphia 76ers after being out of the NBA for a while, he mostly played center. He played 73% of his minutes at the five.
However, during his time with the Knicks this season, they decided (for whatever reason) to move away from using him as a five. Instead, they tried to play him at the power forward spot.
When he was in New York, Yabusele played 68% of his minutes at the four. And obviously, based on the way the trade deadline played out, that didn’t work out.
The same can be said for Sochan’s time in San Antonio. When he got there, they primarily used him as a power forward. In his second year, he even spent some time playing point forward.
It wasn’t until these last two years that they began giving him more chances to play the center spot. He’s spent 41% of his time on the court playing the five for the past two seasons.
But even then, he was playing behind Victor Wembanyama and Luke Kornet this season, so he wasn’t exactly getting ample opportunity to thrive as a center.
The Knicks have a chance to make the most of their time with Sochan. But they are also in danger of making the same mistake they made with Yabusele all over again.
But perhaps most important of all is the way Brown uses him. He wants his centers to either be rim-runners or floor-spacers. But they also have to be able to defend at a high level (unless they're an elite offensive player).
Yabusele spaced the floor, but he couldn't defend. Sochan can't space the floor, but he can defend, so playing him at the five should be obvious.