Somehow, someway, despite having Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, and even after signing Guerschon Yabusele, the New York Knicks do not have enough big-man depth.
This is equal parts surprising, and not ideal. Sometimes, it’s easy to put on the backburner. Invariably, though, we receive a harsh reminder of New York’s shallow frontline—such as when KAT is listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Orlando Magic, and you’re left thinking, “Uh, so now what?”
Mike Brown was asked after last night's game about Karl-Anthony Towns working with trainers on his calf in 3Q. It was news to him & team PR: both said they had not heard anything like that.
— Kris Pursiainen (@krispursiainen) December 6, 2025
Towns has now been listed as QUESTIONABLE tomorrow against the Magic with a calf injury
Worse, it’s not clear if they can realistically do anything about it.
This is not the big-man depth New York envisioned
The Knicks set clear expectations when they signed Yabusele: They wanted to be big, and versatile. They even went as far as telegraphing that Robinson and Towns would start together, because they could.
Few faulted their vision in real-time. The Robinson-Towns pairing has long warranted a more extensive look, and head coach Mike Brown would be able to stagger them by filling in gaps with Yabusele alongside either of them, or by playing one-big lineups.
You know what they say about the best-laid plans…
Robinson has been on a maintenance program all season that limits both his appearances and minutes. Despite Brown’s hopes to the contrary, this doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon.
Yabusele, meanwhile, is fluttering between almost unplayable and actually unplayable. If the Knicks believe this will change, they’re doing a great job of masking the optimism. The biggest indictment to date came during New York’s blowout December 3 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. With Robinson sitting out the second end of a back-to-back, Brown rolled out KAT for nearly 40 minutes, while Yabusele failed to clear the 10-minute benchmark.
Speaking of Towns, he continues to tease the Knicks with pockets of dominance, and torture them with stretches of inconsistency and total vanishing acts. He just recently churned out three consecutive games in which he eclipsed 20 points, and his three-point shooting has, by and large, been all over the place.
The Knicks may need to add a big man to their trade-deadline wish list
Urgency on the Knicks’ frontline is officially hitting critical mass. It’s fine to trust in Towns figuring it out, because they have no other choice. Robinson’s limited availability and generally uninspiring defense is much harder to reconcile. And at this point, it’s tough to have any sort of faith in Yabusele, who spent a half-decade out of the NBA before delivering his standout campaign with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2025-26.
New York isn’t going to fix this issue in-house. Ariel Hukporti is as close as it comes to an answer. He is firmly in the “more useful than Yabusele” tier right now, but that’s damning with faint praise.
Prowling the trade market for another big is a must if this keeps up. The problem is, the Knicks have equally large, if not larger, issues to address. OG Anunoby’s recent absence emphasized the need for another big wing, and the team doesn’t trust Tyler Kolek nearly enough to leave the backup-playmaking ranks untouched.
Impressions will vary on where another big man ranks among the top priorities. Regardless of where you place it, though, the fact this is a concern at all says everything. The Knicks’ big-man depth was supposed to be a strength. Instead, it’s currently a problem they need to solve.