First Knicks Practice Gives Starting Lineup Hint

For those who can't tell, the attached image contains everyone with a prayer to crack New York's opening night roster, and like most team-wide practices, the players are organized by their jersey color. Five players are wearing blue threads: returning starters Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby, as well as Mitchell Robinson.

Veteran big man Robinson found himself at the center of the Knicks' final, desperate grab at saving their 2024-25 season, making a sudden Game 3 start during the conference finals after previously spending all of the season to that point at Towns' direct backup at center.

He made sense as the All-Star's understudy, a much-improved defender and rim presence compared to Towns, who plays like a big wing at times between his shooting and struggles guarding under the rim. But Josh Hart, last season's 82-game starting guard alongside Brunson, could no longer back up his famous defense in necessitating a lineup change.

Brown looks to have taken inspiration from that springtime move, with Hart wearing a gray jersey alongside presumed New York second-stringers in Miles McBride, Ariel Hukporti and Guerschon Yabusele. He'll still grind out the minutes as one of the NBA's lead iron men, but already spoke on his malleability within the lineup when reporters inquired about his security as a starter.

The formidable center certainly shores up the Knicks' defense, dancing along the perimeter nearly as well as he scores others from the paint. Hart doesn't scare any opposing teams as a shooter, either, and the team's non-spacer going from a guard to a big would do a lot in opening up the floor for scoring stars Brunson and Towns.

Robinson's status as a potentially-elevated starter has raged for much of the summer, and Brown already seems keenly aware of his presence as a rebounder and dirty-worker