Mike Brown has been hinting at it since before the season even began: a look with OG Anunoby serving as the de facto center. With the Knicks’ backup big situation drifting into real trouble, that wrinkle is no longer optional. It’s sitting there, and it needs to be used.
The idea hasn’t been a staple for New York. Last season, in the regular season and playoffs combined, Anunoby played 78 minutes, or 163 possessions, with no center on the floor.
The results were uneven, but the sample was far too small to treat as a full verdict. This season has barely offered anything new to study.
Anunoby has only logged two minutes as the nominal 5. That number has to rise, and fast.
The reason is simple: the backup center spot is a problem.
Andre Drummond’s opening-night first half stood out, but the experiment has gone sideways since then. He was benched for James Wiseman against the Orlando Magic, and he currently owns the third-worst plus-minus on the roster. Calling Drummond a total miss would be too strong for a 33-year-old minimum-contract big, but the drop-off from him to Mitchell Robinson was always going to be huge, and the Knicks are learning that his offensive fit is difficult at best.
Wiseman hasn’t given them much reason to feel better. He missed all five of his shots and has not collected a defensive rebound in nine minutes of action. That leaves New York in a tough spot behind Karl-Anthony Towns, especially because Towns can be pushed into foul trouble and the Knicks don’t want to run him into the ground before the playoffs.
For now, they need someone who can cover those backup-center minutes without turning them into a nightly issue. A trade still looks like the front office’s most likely fix, but that sort of move usually doesn’t get going before December.
Until then, the Knicks already have a possible answer on the roster.
There are obvious reasons to hesitate. Playing Anunoby at center means more wear and tear, and it also means fewer minutes with him alongside Towns.
But Mike Brown doesn’t really have the luxury of waiting around. New York is being outscored by 16.4 points per 100 possessions when Towns sits, and the offense is sputtering badly in those minutes.
With the team also struggling from deep, putting OG in the middle could at least open the floor and give the offense a different shape.
There’s also a lineup template that has already shown some life. The Knicks used an Anunoby-at-center look for 24 minutes last year with Landry Shamet replacing KAT, and that group finished plus-14 in that stretch.
Brown could also try Deuce McBride in place of Shamet. If size is the concern, Mohamed Diawara is another option to pair with Anunoby in the frontcourt.
Nobody is arguing that the Knicks need to live in this look for 15 or 20 minutes a night. Its usefulness will depend on the matchup and the opposing bench. It is not supposed to be a permanent crutch.
But at this stage, leaving it untouched seems like the bigger mistake.
In Other News...
Knicks May Have Pulled Off Another Quiet Draft-Night Win
The Knicks used the 30th pick on Sergio de Larrea, then quickly turned that selection into a different kind of asset by sending his rights to the Mavericks for two future second-round picks. It was the sort of maneuver that fits neatly with how New York has tried to work around its salary cap limitations, squeezing value wherever it can find it instead of simply standing pat on draft night.
De Larrea was already playing professionally in Spain, and soon after the draft he helped Valencia win the Liga ACB title, adding another layer to a player the Knicks never intended to keep. New York also knew Dallas had been linked to him and had the front office ties to make the deal work, which is why this looked less like a pass on a prospect and more like a calculated bet on information and timing. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Just Got Pulled Into A Wild Karl-Anthony Towns Trade Idea
The Knicks have been pulled into an early-season trade idea that already feels bigger than the standings around it. Miami opened with a 0-4 start after reshaping its roster in a blockbuster deal with Milwaukee for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis, and the rough beginning has only fueled chatter about how the new pieces fit with Bam Adebayo still anchoring the frontcourt.
What makes the speculation more interesting from New Yorks side is the path some are floating to get there: a swap centered on Adebayo and Tim Hardaway Jr. for Karl-Anthony Towns. Nothing has been confirmed by Miami, and the Heat could easily give the group more time to settle in, but the mere fact the Knicks are part of this kind of conversation says a lot about how quickly the league starts chasing the next big idea when a new roster stumbles out of the gate. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Already Have A Real Andre Drummond Debate On Their Hands
Andre Drummonds first few weeks as the Knicks backup center have already turned into a small but real rotation conversation. He opened the 2026-27 season with a double-double, then saw his minutes dip in the next games as Mike Brown adjusted the lineup, a familiar kind of early-season sorting-out process for a team still figuring out how it wants to use its depth. Even so, Brown has made clear Drummond remains in the backup mix, which matters for a bench frontcourt that needs a dependable presence when the starters sit.
Drummond gave the Knicks a reminder of why that role is worth monitoring in the win over Detroit, when he scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds in 14 minutes. It was a cleaner, more productive showing than some of his earlier outings, and it gave New York a useful glimpse of what he can offer when the minutes are there. The larger question now is whether that performance is the start of a steadier climb back into a bigger share of the center rotation. [Read more 🡒]