The Knicks have already spent a good chunk of free agency keeping their own guys in place, but one familiar name from their NBA Finals run is still sitting out there: Jeremy Sochan.
That matters because New York has just one roster spot left and a clear need in the middle. On paper, that might make a Sochan reunion feel like a long shot. In reality, he still fits what the Knicks need right now, especially if they’re looking for a short-term frontcourt answer while other options stay out of reach.
Sochan’s biggest selling point is simple: he can move all over the floor. At 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, he brings the kind of length, strength and quickness that lets him handle assignments from positions 1-5.
He has spent most of his career at power forward, but he’s also logged real minutes as a small-ball center. In 2024-25, he played 41% of his minutes at the five, per Basketball Reference, and this past year that number was 39% between the Spurs and Knicks.
Even in New York, the team was willing to use him that way. His minutes split there leaned 67-33 toward power forward, but he still spent about a third of his time at center. Mike Brown showed the same flexibility on the biggest stage, too, using Sochan against both Mitchell Robinson and Ariel Hukporti in Game 4 of the Finals when Karl-Anthony Towns was in foul trouble.
That usage lines up neatly with the Knicks’ current situation. Robinson and Hukporti are gone, and that opens the clearest path for Sochan to come back.
Andre Drummond is now part of the mix, but there will still be nights when Brown wants a different look at center or simply needs someone dependable to soak up minutes. Sochan has done that before, and he’s already piled up 149 career starts.
This would still be a gamble if New York tried to make him a full-time center. But with Drummond in the fold, the Knicks have enough veteran stability to take a more developmental approach with the back end of the roster. That gives Sochan a lane.
He’s also only 23, even though he’s already been through four seasons. There’s still room to squeeze more out of him after he averaged 11.4 ppg and 6.1 rpg across his first three campaigns.
The contract piece could make this even more appealing for New York. Sochan remains unsigned, which suggests the market isn’t exactly hot. That could put the Knicks in position to land him on a veteran minimum deal, maybe even one that isn’t fully guaranteed.
If that happens, New York gets some immediate frontcourt insurance without closing off bigger moves later. The team has already explored the center trade market, but other clubs don’t seem eager to help the newly crowned champs. For now, patience may be the name of the game, with targets like Moussa Dibate or Yves Missi potentially becoming more realistic later in the season.
Until then, Sochan would at least keep the Knicks from coming up empty. He may not be the flashiest answer, but he knows the roster, has already shown he can handle an uneven role, and gives New York a cheap way to patch a hole while it waits for the market to loosen up.
The Knicks liked him enough to make him a priority target back in February, and his quick call-up during the Finals only reinforced the appeal. The longer the frontcourt stays untouched, the more this starts to look like a real path back for Sochan.
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