The Knicks' 4-4 start cannot be attributed to any single player or unit. But the second unit failing to match the highs of last season so far is one of the biggest issues for New York.
Some of it can be attributed to early-season rust and uncharacteristic shooting struggles. Some of it is adjusting to replacing Mitchell Robinson with downgrades . And some of it is the difficult schedule the Knicks have had thus far.
But one glaring truth is that this team currently lacks some size, and has a number of guards/smaller wings to spare. Those two facts, coupled with poor performances and championship expectations again, make this unit ripe for a trade.
With the way this team is currently constructed, the bench features a lot of overlap. Miles McBride, Tyler Kolek, Landry Shamet, Jordan Clarkson and Jose Alvarado are all good players who provide different things for this team , with McBride and Shamet bordering on the "irreplaceable" category.
But they are all undersized. None of them are particularly tall, nor do they possess a plus wingspan. And outside of McBride, none of them are great athletes, either. Pair that with Drummond, who is large, but also much slower and less athletic than Robinson is, and you have a bench unit that is clearly flawed .
At least in the past, this problem was partially covered up by a couple of things. Former coach Tom Thibodeau relied heavily on his starters, so the second unit just didn't have as much time to have their weaknesses exploited. Thibodeau also had a philosophical obsession with prioritizing size over everything.
Additionally, this issue sticks out with Robinson's presence being missed . He helped cover up many of the bench unit's size issues.
Robinson's elite offensive rebounding abilities not only got the second unit more shots offensively, but also limited the amount of possessions they had to defend. And even when they did have to, his mobility and presence outweighs that of Drummond's. The Knicks' current backup center is also a strong offensive rebounder, yet Robinson's offensive rebound averages were still higher than Drummond's currently is.
If the Knicks' primary goal is to win this season, and they want to put together the best roster possible to accomplish said goal, then their best bet may be to trade from a position of strength: their backup guards.
McBride has long been a rumored trade candidate given how unlikely it is that he and the Knicks can agree on an extension. As has Kolek due to his inconsistent role and upcoming free agency as well. Even the aforementioned Alvarado, despite being a hometown hero and re-signing with the team this summer, could be a potential trade candidate once he becomes eligible to be dealt on December 15.
It's not necessarily that those players have done anything wrong. As we've seen early on though, there just isn't enough playing time for all three , and sometimes contenders have to make sacrifices for the greater good.
Injuries can happen and having too much depth at any position is rarely a bad thing. But if the early season has showed us one thing, it's that Brown and his coaching staff don't quite fully trust Mohamed Diawara just yet. And if Diawara isn't going to be in the current equation, a wing rotation of Shamet and Clarkson leaves them very thin and small-and that's without mentioning James Wiseman being borderline unplayable for almost every game so far , highlighting their problematic center depth as well.
Obviously, much of the second unit is often sharing the floor with one of OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart, which helps provide some of the dirty work that players with size take care of. But with the backup guard position being so crowded and their contract situations being what they are, it could behoove the Knicks to trade one of them for another center or another wing with some athleticism and/or size.
That could potentially help ease the offensive burden so that the bench production isn't solely dependent on McBride and Shamet's shooting. And it could help them boost what is already a very solid defense.
As a whole, the Knicks' lack of size has been blown out of proportion. In losses against the Celtics and the 76ers when it was brought up the most, New York's size wasn't what lost them the game. It was a combination of missed shots, lack of defensive discipline, and subpar offensive process.
Still, it is one part of the team's issues, and the second unit has the players on the roster to possibly bring in a solution.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/knicks/onsi as Harsh Trade Reality Is Emerging for Knicks' Bench 8 Games In .
