New York Knicks' depth situation is worse than anyone expected

Once upon a time, depth was one of the New York Knicks' biggest strengths. This time last year, New York had Donte DiVincenzo, Immanuel Quickley, and Isaiah Hartenstein coming off the bench. Those three players are no longer on the team.

A flurry of trades left the bench bare. The Knicks traded Quickley to the Raptors last December, included Quentin Grimes in a deadline deal with the Pistons, and included DiVincenzo in the trade for Karl-Anthony Towns. Hartenstein left in free agency, but he became a starter in the second half of last season after Mitchell Robinson got hurt.

Unfortunately, injuries have continued to plague New York. The Knicks announced on Sunday that Precious Achiuwa strained his hamstring in the preseason and will be re-evaluated in two to four weeks. Landry Shamet dislocated his shoulder, and New York waived him. He was expected to be in Tom Thibodeau's rotation.

Knicks depth is extremely thin after offseason trades and injuries

Tom Thibodeau played all 12 available players in Tuesday's season-opening loss to the Celtics, but part of the reason for that is because it was a blowout. The head coach likes to stick with a nine-man rotation, but his options are limited.

Jericho Sims (who spent most of last season out of the rotation) and Cam Payne (who played 31 games for the Sixers last season) played 24 and 21 minutes, respectively. Pacome Dadiet led the rookies with 13 minutes. He'll likely stay in the rotation until Achiuwa returns.

New York's best bench player is Miles McBride, who shot 4-of-5 from three for 22 points against the Celtics. Many fans want McBride to start over Josh Hart, but the second unit would miss his scoring, and the starters would miss Hart's off-ball movement.

The Knicks need to fill two open roster spots by Nov. 5. New York can't exceed the second tax apron, so the team is expected to convert Ariel Hukporti's two-way contract to a standard deal. The team could sign another player to a veteran's minimum deal, which initially was supposed to be for Shamet.

ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania reported on Tuesday that the Knicks have "serious interest" in Matt Ryan. However, SNY's Ian Begley outlined why signing Ryan could be complicated. If New York gave Ryan a veteran's minimum contract, the team wouldn't have space to re-sign Shamet. The Knicks could sign Ryan to a two-way contract after converting Hukporti to a standard deal.

New York has time to address its two open roster spots. The team's thin depth will not drastically improve, but things will get better when Achiuwa returns.