For the first time in a long time, the Knicks find themselves with enough depth where they have multiple options for which five players they choose to start. It is a good problem to have, so long as they take advantage of it. Tom Thibodeau's most unforgivable sin was his failure to try to find the lineup that worked best together. For Mike Brown's tenure to be a success, that is exactly what he must discover.
Talking about Thibodeau only playing his starters feels like beating a dead horse at this point. But, with apologies to the horse, it must quickly be glossed over again. The Knicks' starting lineup played by far the most minutes in the league out of any unit last season.
It wasn't until the Eastern Conference Finals, with their backs pressed hard against the wall, that Thibodeau finally made a lineup change, inserting Mitchell Robinson into the lineup for Josh Hart.
For Brown to avoid the failures of his predecessor, he must treat the regular season as a laboratory, experimenting with different units and jotting down the data, so that when the time comes, he knows what works and what doesn't.
Brown has plenty of lineup options
Brown has several options for how he can fill out the starting lineup when the regular season rolls around. He could pay homage to Thibodeau by starting Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Hart, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns. He could also opt to go with a double-big lineup, swapping Hart out for Robinson.
There is also the chance he leans into his preferred style of pace-and-space, swapping Hart out for Deuce McBride, who can open up the floor with his shooting while playing at the same pace that Hart brings. That is the lineup I believe would best optimize Brunson and Towns, and one that I can't wait to see in action.
It doesn't matter which lineup Brown goes with at the start of the season
Ultimately, it doesn't matter how Brown starts the season. Maybe Jordan Clarkson starts, who knows? All that matters in the end is that he takes the time to experiment with different lineups and see what works best.
The lineup that starts the season may not be the same lineup that starts in January, or the same lineup that starts in the playoffs. Brown and his staff just need to have the data points to be able to justify which lineup they play, something Thibodeau was never able to do.