SNY’s Ian Begley will be responding to Knicks questions from readers. Here’s the latest…
Do the Knicks internally see the KAT/Mitch (or some other rim protector) frontcourt as a real feature of the team? Thibs has yet to play KAT and Sims together despite the defensive struggles. Are they 100% fully committed to KAT at the 5 or are they ready to make that pivot? – @GreenPandaGP
I can’t answer this question definitively but I don’t think the Knicks would pivot from playing Karl-Anthony Towns at center. I can say confidently that New York will want to see lineups with Towns and Mitchell Robinson on the floor together, if possible. Robinson is currently rehabbing from foot surgery. If/when he makes it back to the floor, he will probably come off the bench initially. I can’t see him starting right away. But I do think the Knicks want to see how a Towns/Robinson front court performs.
Last season, the Timberwolves had a lot of success with Towns at power forward and Rudy Gobert at center. Towns played power forward for 95 percent of his 2,000-plus minutes last year, per Basketball Reference. The Knicks obviously don’t want Towns playing power forward 95 percent of the time this year. But I do think they’d like to see how lineups with Towns and Robinson function.
Any chance Mitch is ahead of schedule in his rehab? We need him desperately. What’s the injury update on McCullar? Any timeline on return? – @MendozaTweets
The last time I checked, Robinson’s rehab had been going well. The Knicks have projected his potential return for December/January. They don’t want to bring him back until he’s fully healthy. So I don’t think there is any rush to get him back sooner than the December/January window.
I don’t have an update on Kevin McCullar Jr.
Anything new to tell us [on Precious Achiuwa]?? – @daly_a_
Nothing new on Precious Achiuwa’s hamstring. Tom Thibodeau said on Wednesday that Achiuwa had not been cleared for contact. The Knicks announced on Oct. 20 that Achiuwa would be re-evaluated in 2-to-4 weeks — this Sunday is the four-week mark from the initial announcement.
Does the FO think the team needs more time to mesh or there issues that can only be solved via trade? – @Tejester4
I’d be lying to you if I said I knew exactly what the entire Knicks front office thinks about the team. But the sense I get from conversations over the past few weeks is that there is no rush to make a trade. The team is obviously incomplete at the moment. Achiuwa and Robinson are out. Landry Shamet is still rehabbing his dislocated shoulder. (If Shamet can make it all the way back, I still believe the Knicks will strongly consider re-signing him.)
The big question, to me, is if the Knicks can wait another month or two for Robinson to return. In a perfect world, the Knicks stack wins over the next few weeks, Robinson comes back healthy and bolsters the rotation. But things are rarely perfect in the NBA.
The Knicks (5-6) weren’t put together to hover around .500. So if these struggles continue, the team could be more apt to make a move.
But based on what we’ve seen so far, I think they will be fine over the course of the season. (Feel free to let @OldTakesExposed know if I’m wrong.)
One factor in my thinking? Jalen Brunson’s early-season numbers . He’s averaging 24 points on 46 percent shooting and hit 38 percent of his threes in the first 10 games of the season. If you’ve watched the games, you know that Brunson is not playing up to the standard he’s established. The Knicks (5-6) have underperformed as a team.
But if the past two seasons are any indication, Brunson may be warming up.
Last year, Brunson averaged 22.6 points on 42 percent shooting in the first 10 games. The Knicks went 5-5 in those games. We all know how the rest of the season played out. In 2022-23, Brunson averaged 19.7 points on 50 percent shooting in the first 10 games. But he hit just 30 percent of his threes and the Knicks started that season 5-5. He finished the season averaging 24 points and shooting 41 percent from beyond the arc.
Of course, these are three different teams with very different expectations. But recently history tells you that Brunson should be just fine.
