Knicks Sophomore Can Carve Out Rotational Center Role

When the pace-and-space era first overtook the NBA by storm a decade ago, centers who could play within the modern game suddenly became a commodity. Shooters with size already held important roles within the league, but that archetype's market value skyrocketed as their ability to play alongside classic rim-runners grew in style. The New York Knicks have built themselves a contender after spending years watching their league-wide peers have all the fun, and they've done it following a lot of the usual team-building tenets.

They have their star scoring-and-playmaking lead guard in Jalen Brunson, versatile two-way wings spotting the starting lineup and one of the league's quietly-formidable big man rooms that can continue adding to their ranks this season. Mitchell Robinson's case as a starter continues growing alongside star center Karl-Anthony Towns, and while summer-signee Guerschon Yabusele is expected to add some much-needed depth, young prospect Ariel Hukporti could provide some of his own cheap value.

He didn't have a substantial role on last year's Knicks squad, playing sparingly at under nine minutes across 25 regular season appearances. But it's worth noting that in the game in which he tore his left meniscus last February, he was coming off of his most consistent stretch yet, earning minutes in nine of his last 10 games before the injury with some spirited rebounding off of the bench in Robinson's absence.