Prior to the start of this season, Mike Brown hinted that he could try out more lineups with OG Anunoby as the de facto center. Given the state of the New York Knicks’ backup big situation, it’s time for him to push that button.
This is not a look the team has leaned upon before with any consistency. Across both the regular season and playoffs last year, Anunoby logged a total of 78 minutes (163 possessions) without a center on the floor. The results were mixed, but the sample isn’t nearly large enough to make any sweeping declarations.
We don’t have any more information to work off from this year. Anunoby has tallied a grand total of two minutes as the nominal 5. That number needs to tick up. Immediately.
Not only do the Knicks have no choice, but they have a roadmap to making it work.
The backup center position is officially a problem
Despite turning in a memorable first half on opening night, the Andre Drummond experiment isn’t going well. He got benched for James Wiseman against the Orlando Magic, and now has the third-worst plus-minus on the team.
It’d be an overreach to call Drummond a failure. He’s a 33-year-old big man on a minimum contract. But the defensive drop-off from him to Mitchell Robinson was always massive, and the Knicks are finding out that his offensive fit is beyond problematic.
New York’s only other alternative to back up Towns is Wiseman. He has hardly looked like the answer in scant playing time. Never mind him missing all five of his field-goal attempts. He has yet to grab a defensive rebound through nine minutes of action.
Towns mitigates a lot of the damage on his best nights, but he is no stranger to foul trouble. Most of all, the Knicks don’t want to overextend him before the playoffs.
Capably filling these backup-center minutes is essential. And while all signs point toward the front office making a trade, the player-swapping business seldom begins before December.
The Knicks have an OG Anunoby-at-center ace up their sleeve
You can understand the Knicks’ hesitation to throw Anunoby into the center fire. The position sets him up for more wear and tear, and also entails playing him fewer minutes beside Towns.
Mike Brown doesn’t have the luxury of caring. Not right now. New York is getting outscored by 16.4 points per 100 possessions when Towns sits while posting an offensive rating in the gutter. As the team continues to struggle from beyond the arc, opening the floor with OG in the middle is if nothing else an offensive remedy.
The Knicks have at least one Anunoby-at-the-5 lineup worth beta-testing, too. They played 24 minutes last year with Landry Shamet subbed in for KAT. That group outscored opponents by 14 points.
Brown could also look at using Deuce McBride instead of Shamet. If the Knicks are that concerned about size, they can dust off Mohamed Diawara, and slot him alongside Anunoby in the frontcourt.
No one’s saying New York suddenly needs to play 15 to 20 minutes every game without a center. This lineup-style’s utility will vary by matchup, and opposing bench units. It doesn't need to be a crutch. Using it as such would be a mistake.
At this point, though, not using it at all feels like the bigger one.
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