Knicks Nightly

The top of the roster has not changed. Jalen Brunson is back after averaging 26.0 points and 6.8 assists in 74 games last season. Karl-Anthony Towns gave the Knicks 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds a night last season. OG Anunoby scored 16.7 points, shot 38.6 percent from three and posted a +6.1 plus-minus, the best among the regulars. Mikal Bridges played all 82 games last season and averaged 14.4 points. Josh Hart added 12.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists, and he shot 41.3 percent from deep. Brunson and Towns are both 30. Hart is 31. This group carried a 53-29 team last season. The question is whether it can do that again with a different bench behind it.

Mitchell Robinson is gone. He is now with the Celtics, the team the Knicks face in the opener. That puts more weight on Andre Drummond, who is 33 and has 14 seasons in the league. Last season he averaged 8.4 rebounds in 19.5 minutes. James Wiseman, 25, is the other true center behind Towns. In the backcourt, Miles McBride shot 41.3 percent from three in 41 games last season. Landry Shamet hit 39.2 percent on 9.3 points. Jose Alvarado handed out 3.4 assists in 19.9 minutes. Jordan Clarkson, 34, scored 8.6 points a night. The younger end of the roster includes rookies Jaden Akins and Tyler Nickel, plus Mohamed Diawara, Pacome Dadiet, Tyler Kolek and Kevin McCullar Jr.

The numbers from last season set the bar. New York went 53-29. The Knicks posted a 118.7 offensive rating and a 112.3 defensive rating, which works out to a 6.4 net rating. They played at a 97.7 pace, slower than most teams, and scored 116.5 points per game. Their effective field goal percentage was 55.7 and their true shooting percentage was 59.0. That profile fits Brunson's half-court game: patient trips, good shots, and few empty possessions. Holding the defense at that level is the job that changes most without Robinson. The preseason did not help on that front. Toronto scored 148 on Oct. 13, and Minnesota put up 122 the night before.

The front office trimmed the roster before the deadline. The Knicks placed Bruce Brown on waivers, per reports on Oct. 17. That same day they signed and waived Dink Pate. Notes from Kristian Winfield on Oct. 17 covered Drummond, McBride and Diawara. Jared Schwartz followed on Oct. 18 with notes on McBride, Wiseman, Drummond and a player listed as M. Brown. Another set of Knicks notes on Oct. 19 mentioned Drummond, Shamet, M. Brown and B. Brown. Drummond's name shows up in every one of those reports. That suggests his role as Robinson's replacement is the main frontcourt story heading into the opener. Until the team says otherwise, these are reports, not moves.

The schedule starts with a test. New York opens Oct. 23 at Boston on Prime Video. The Knicks come home to face Orlando on Oct. 25, then host Detroit on Oct. 27 on NBC and Peacock. They play at Chicago on Oct. 28, the second night of a back-to-back. On Oct. 30 they visit Philadelphia on Prime Video in an Emirates NBA Cup game. That is a rematch of the preseason finale. The Knicks have 42 national TV games this season, so fans across the country will see a lot of this team. Nobody is on the injury report, so the full roster should be available for the opener.