Knicks Need Forward to Sustain as Two-Way Constant

The majority of last season's key New York Knicks contributors had a tough time fitting into last season's system, despite their impressive regular season numbers and postseason finish.

Jalen Brunson won the Clutch Player of the Year award largely behind then-coach Tom Thibodeau's insistence on his place as the offense's focal point, which diminished Karl-Anthony Towns and Mikal Bridges as the star's secondary and tertiary scoring threats. The defense suffered and caused many fans to question the fit of some of the Knicks' most-used lineups, an issue that came home to roost in New York's decisive playoff exit last spring.

One player who notably didn't struggle was OG Anunoby, who watched as several of his teammates grappled with understanding their own places within the team's hierarchy while playing his own 3&D role at an elite level. He was never confused for the Knicks' best player, but the oft-injured forward appeared in a career-high 74 games in contributing some of the most helpful margin-work of any of the teams' supporting players.

He averaged a new-high 18 points per game in his age-27 campaign on his typical league-average shooting splits, knocking down just over 37% of his 3-pointers on over six attempts a night. Other teams were quick to gather that his shoot-first point guard in Brunson would dictate the vast majority of New York's offensive possessions, and he was critical in providing spacing and paint-finishing as one of the most relied-upon play-finishers whenever the Knicks felt like moving the ball.

Anunoby was useful on offense, but he was flat-out necessary as on the other end. All of his fellow starters disappointed as defenders, and that sentiment went well beyond the offensively-tilted stars in the undersized Brunson and the clumsy Towns. Bridges, once a major Defensive Player of the Year contender, isn't the consistent stopper he once was, and neither is spirited hustler Josh Hart.