The Knicks’ offseason has been busy, productive, and just a little bit unfinished.
Leon Rose has kept almost the entire title-winning core together after New York’s 2025 Emirates NBA Cup victory in Las Vegas turned into a historically dominant playoff run and a championship. The front office also added Andre Drummond after Mitchell Robinson left for the Boston Celtics, giving the roster another body in the middle and a strong rebounder to help fill the gap.
But there’s still one clear hole on the regular roster: the backup behind Karl-Anthony Towns’ backup. Ariel Hukporti, New York’s third-string big man, signed a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers for more than the minimum, which took the Knicks out of the running. Almost two months later, that spot remains open.
Nick Richards looked like the best remaining answer, but he just landed with a Knicks rival to help support Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo’s push to knock New York off the top. That leaves the Knicks staring at a familiar offseason problem with fewer clean solutions than they’d probably like.
At this point, the likeliest path may be a training camp battle between veteran big men on non-guaranteed contracts. If New York decides not to chase one of the remaining free agent centers on a fully guaranteed deal that apparently hasn’t drawn much interest around the league, that competition could decide who gets the final frontcourt spot.
The good news for the Knicks is that the names still out there come with plenty of mileage. Bismack Biyombo, Mason Plumlee, and Kelly Olynyk all spent time with the San Antonio Spurs last season, and the three of them combine for 41 years of NBA experience. That’s the kind of group that fits a team trying to win now, not one still building toward something bigger.
And that’s the key here: New York is no longer chasing a long-awaited breakthrough. The Knicks are the reigning champions, which changes the calculus. They can still make room for younger players like Mohamed Diawara to develop, but they also have to accept that the right center option might not surface until later in the season.
If the upgrade doesn’t come before the trade deadline, the buyout market could eventually hand them another look. But the Knicks can’t just wait around and hope the problem solves itself. They still have to start fast, protect home court in a loaded Eastern Conference, and make sure Towns has the right support behind him.
That matters even more because Towns, for all his star power, has led the league in offensive fouls for three straight years. New York needs insurance at center, and it needs it before a bad moment turns into a costly one.
In Other News...
Mike Breen Identified What Defined The Knicks Under Finals Pressure
Mike Breen stepped into the SNY broadcast booth during a Mets game and used the moment to reflect on the Knicks championship path, zeroing in on the mental side of their 2026 NBA Finals run. What stood out to him was how the group handled pressure as a unit, with playoff-tested veterans and willing role players helping the Knicks absorb the stress of an NBA Finals stage that can rattle even the most talented teams.
Across the first two games against the San Antonio Spurs, New York had to play from behind and still found a way to settle in and make winning plays late. Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hart each had their turns carrying the load, but Breens point was broader than any one performance: the Knicks title push was built on collective sacrifice, and that showed up every time the game started tilting the wrong way. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Veteran Big Search Just Got More Interesting In Portland
Portlands backcourt depth took a serious hit with Shaedon Sharpe expected to miss six months because of a torn meniscus, and that kind of injury ripple can alter more than just the rotation. For a Blazers team already juggling its roster, the pressure now falls on the front office to make sure every spot is doing real work, especially after claiming center Micah Potter off waivers.
Potters situation is the one worth watching from a Knicks perspective. Portland is over capacity and already has two centers ahead of him, which could make him the odd man out if the Blazers need to clear room elsewhere. If he becomes available, New York has reason to look closely, because the Knicks still have a need for a veteran big man. [Read more 🡒]
Knicks Suddenly Look Like A Real Landing Spot For Kelly Olynyk
Kelly Olynyk is still on the market, and the pool of obvious landing spots has narrowed after Golden State used its final roster openings elsewhere. That leaves the veteran big man weighing a familiar kind of late-summer uncertainty, with a handful of teams still in the mix and the chance of a standard contract looking slimmer by the day.
The Knicks, though, suddenly stand out as a place where Olynyk could actually compete for a spot rather than simply wait for one to open up. A training-camp invite or another non-guaranteed arrangement would give New York a low-risk look at a player who could fit into its center depth, and for Olynyk it would create a real path to stick around if he can make the case on the floor. [Read more 🡒]