The New York Knicks' title defense is well underway. After a training camp battle that included another unexpected departure from the NBA (Malcolm Brogdon and John Konchar, fans hardly knew ye), Mike Brown's coaching staff knew who they'd be working with.
12 games into the regular season, the league's reigning champions are experiencing a bit of a championship hangover. This was expected after the relatively short offseason. Another expected weak spot for the team, however, has been their depth at the center position.
After Karl-Anthony Towns, who has led the league in fouls in each of the last three seasons, the Knicks have Andre Drummond and James Wiseman — who have yet to prove they can manage high-leverage situations. Here are the players they'll rely on, at every position, to help make that happen.
Point Guard: Jalen Brunson, Jose Alvarado, Tyler Kolek, Jaden Akins*
*player is signed to a two-way contract with the Westchester Knicks
The Knicks have the NBA's reigning Finals MVP starting at point guard. The rest is inherently gravy. That said, even in the wake of that title, Brown seems to be fostering a healthy competition for the backup job.
The coach has spoken several times already about how Alvarado and Kolek — integral to the team's victories in the NBA Finals and Emirates NBA Cup Finals, respectively — have both helped the Knicks win at high levels. While Alvarado came into the season with the edge, his brief injury created opportunities for Kolek. When Brown was looking for a spark after Alvarado's return, he went back to the 25-year-old.
The Knicks also elevated two-way guard Jaden Akins in Alvarado's absence, trusting him scantly with late-quarter defensive possessions and garbage-time minutes. Although it's by choice, New York being up against the second apron makes finding cost-efficient contributors extra important. Brown will likely continue to give Akins flashes of opportunity as the front office wonders just how heavily the Michigan State product should factor into their future plans.
Shooting Guard: Josh Hart, Miles McBride, Jordan Clarkson
Hart has to slot in somewhere. The 31-year-old's game is predicated on filling in gaps, serving as the ultimate support for stars who need help with dirty work. As much as fans may think during regular season play that someone like Mitchell Robinson, then, or Landry Shamet, now, should start in Hart's place, both Brown and Tom Thibodeau have been unable to quit the Swiss Army knife for long.
Behind Hart is Miles McBride, another champion looking for a new contract from the Knicks. He's playing like he deserves one, making 44.1% of his 3-point shots through the first 12 games of the season. It remains to be seen whether the Knicks' front office can fit Towns, Hart, and McBride under the second apron, given their governor's mandate. The possibility has yet to be ruled out.
And while Jordan Clarkson is technically the third-stringer, the guard's late-career transformation into a rebounding and defending wing, of sorts, has gotten him on the court in 10 of New York's games thus far. He continues to be one of the best-value veteran's minimum contracts in the NBA, both because of his contributions on the court — and the ways in which he leads by example both on and off it.
Small Forward: Mikal Bridges, Landry Shamet, Pacôme Dadiet
It's hard to imagine Mikal Bridges missing a game. That said, Brown has benched him down the stretch in five of the Knicks' first 12. The play of Landry Shamet, one of the league's best-value contracts in general, has in part facilitated those very benchings.
If the sharpshooter weren't such a natural fit with New York's starters, it would likely be harder for Brown to let his $150 million starting wing spend crunch time on the sideline. With Shamet on the first year of a $24 million contract that could keep him on the Knicks through 2030, it's an easier pill to swallow.
Pacôme Dadiet has yet to truly impress the Knicks, or their fans, in a real NBA game. While the young wing has certainly flashed potential, particularly as a 3-point shooter, it hasn't translated to any New York wins just yet. That is, of course, in part the consequence of a contender bringing in someone as raw as the 18-year-old Dadiet was on draft night.
The wing's willingness to sign for less than the rookie scale maximum for 25th overall picks, though, made the Knicks' addition of Karl-Anthony Towns possible later that summer. New York has been seemingly unable to trade Dadiet in each of the past two offseasons, buying the Frenchman some more time to make a case to stay.
Power Forward: OG Anunoby, Mo Diawara, Dalton Knecht*, Tyler Nickel*
OG Anunoby made what could potentially go down as the most important shot in Knicks history. Fans should find it within themselves to forgive his slow start to the season. The burly wing is scoring 16 points per game on average, and slowing down opponents with his defense, but making just 38% of his shot attempts in the process. Not great — will likely get much better soon.
While Diawara seemingly leapfrogged Dadiet in last year's rotation, Brown himself has recently grouped the two Frenchmen together. The coach told reporters earlier in the season that he was hoping to get both wings involved closer to the start of the season, but that his team's underperformance got in the way of that.
As much as Brown may be to blame for his own group's failure to meet certain moments, it's entirely possible that the coach has simply been establishing the kinds of standards necessary to become the NBA's first repeat champion in eight years. Recently, those efforts have involved giving Alvarado's backup spot to Kolek and throwing both Dadiet and Diawara into the fire for spot minutes.
Dalton Knecht has been part of those experiments, too. The Knicks picked the shooter up on a two-way contract and announced plans to give him run with their Westchester affiliate in the G-League. However, that hasn't stopped Brown from putting Knecht into three of New York's regular season games thus far.
It'd be a great help to the Knicks if any of Dadiet, Diawara, or Knecht emerged as postseason-ready. Rookie Tyler Nickel is the least likely to make it to that point ahead of the playoffs, but will get reps with the Westchester squad.
Center: Karl-Anthony Towns, Andre Drummond, James Wiseman
Towns is having a monster start to the season; his 12 straight double-doubles are the most in franchise history. It should be incredibly clear that the Knicks' need for upgraded help at the center position is nothing close to an indictment of their 7-foot superstar's ability.
In 13.6 minutes per game, Drummond is averaging 3.9 points and 7.9 rebounds through the team's first dozen contests. That includes the time he was benched for Wiseman in the second half of the team's third game of the season.
Drummond will tell you himself that he's doing his best to improve his field goal percentage around the rim. Until then, though, the big is still struggling to make his rebounding ability matter more than his weaknesses on both ends of the court.
Leon Rose was ironically put in a poor situation following his first championship victory as an NBA executive; the Knicks' unexpected budgetary restrictions forced his hand with regard to Robinson, Drummond, and Wiseman. There's still plenty of time, though, for the team's braintrust to acquire new talent if the centers they have don't improve.
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