The debate over who will round out the New York Knicks’ starting lineup most frequently orbits around one question: Josh Hart, or Mitchell Robinson? Karl-Anthony Towns better hope the answer is Deuce McBride.
Knicks head coach Mike Brown has ambitious plans for his new center, including hopes of using him as more of a playmaking hub. Though KAT has proven he can churn out star-caliber stat lines regardless of who he plays alongside, New York’s has a much better chance of getting the best version of him we’ve ever seen if it slides McBride into the starting lineup, and forces opposing defenses into impossible decisions.
Say goodbye to wings getting the best of KAT
Teams liberally stashed smaller players on Towns by the end of last year, especially during the playoffs. They very rarely had to pay the price.
Most assign this issue to Towns’ functional flaws. And they can be. Mostly, though, it came back to a lack of respect for the Knicks’ fifth starter: Josh Hart.
As James L. Edwards III of The Athletic noted, the problem “wasn’t just that wings were guarding Towns when the offense was bogged down; it was that teams were putting their wings on Towns, AND big men on Hart. Putting the big on Hart and having him sag off when Hart was on the perimeter mucked up the spacing.”
Defenses did not care about leaving Hart open. Why would they? He has graded out as a below-average catch-and-shoot three-point option ever since arriving in New York. Towns will run into the same issue if the Knicks start Robinson, who’s even more of a non-shooter
Opponents will not get away with treating McBride this way. Over the past two seasons, has ranked no lower than the 79th percentile in spot-up three-point efficiency, per BBall Index.
Putting wings on Towns suddenly becomes prohibitive if McBride is the player being left unattended. That, in turn, increases the amount of time KAT gets matched up with fellow bigs—which, more than often not, is a problem for those fellow bigs.
The Knicks have already seen what Towns can do with four shooters
In the limited time Towns spent alongside Brunson and zero other non-shooters last season, he knocked down 63.6 percent of his twos, including an absurd 11-of-12 clip at the rim (91.7 percent), to go along with a 4-of-8 showing from distance. More specifically, the McBride-with-four-starters unit posted an offensive rating above 132, while outscoring opponents by almost 9.2 points per 100 possessions.
Small samples can be misleading, but this type of environment tracks with what’s best for Towns overall. The Knicks should be looking to lean on these configurations as much as possible, even if it comes at the expense of the defense.
Granted, there will be other issues. Bringing both Hart and Robinson off the bench makes for dicey second-unit spacing. New York can mitigate the damage by staggering them as much as possible. And it gets easier to float five-out arrangements if, as expected, the Knicks make room for both Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet.
Ultimately, there is no starting-lineup debate when looking at it through the lens of what’s best for KAT. He should be rooting for McBride to win the fifth and final spot.