Knicks Insider PREDICTS Starting Lineup Change | NY Knicks News

Knicks Insider PREDICTS Starting Lineup Change | NY Knicks News

Knicks insider James L. Edwards III of the Athletic put out his prediction for what the starting five is going to be for the Knicks in this upcoming season. Before we talk about that, I want to hear from all the real ones. Which player do you want to see be the fifth starter alongside the core four? [Music] Welcome in to New York Knicks now by chat sports. I am your host Marshall Green. Appreciate everybody for rolling in as we react to James L. Edwards III in his athletic article where he talked about who he thinks is going to be the fifth starter alongside Brunson Bridges Anobi and Carl Anthony Towns. The article said this ultimately I think Mike Brown and his staff end up inserting Mitchell Robinson into the starting lineup permanently in order to best maximize the defense. My guess as of mid August is that Robinson will be the first player to come out of the game for Yabisel so that the New York Knicks can lean into more of a five out system with Carl Anthony Town shifting to the center spot. We’ve talked a lot about should it be Josh Hart staying in the starting lineup where he was all season long until the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers or should it be Mitchell Robinson who was inserted into the starting lineup in the Eastern Conference Finals. Well, if you look at the net rating in the playoffs for these players, meaning how many points are you outscoring your opponent per 100 possessions? Well, in the 335 minutes where Josh Hart was the starter in the playoffs, the Knicks were outscored by 6.2 points per 100 possessions. A little bit better with Mitchell Robinson still not great. The Knicks were still outscored in those minutes. Instead of 6.2 points, it was 3.7 points per 100 possessions. kind of paints the picture that I don’t think either of these guys are necessarily the perfect fit. I think one might be better than the other. Edwards elaborating saying this. Let me start with this. I think Josh Hart deserves to be a starter. And if he ends up not being one, as I predict, I think it says more about the Knicks and Brown wanting to improve the defense than it does Josh Hart. Having Mitchell Robinson as the anchor of the front line will help do that. Furthermore, if there were to be a starting lineup change, Hart would handle it the best of anyone in last season’s starting lineup. It wouldn’t surprise me though if Mike Brown did keep Hart in the starting lineup. He’s a big fan of his hustle and ability to connect the offense. So, we’ll see. Still in the middle of August, still a long way to go. Training camp hasn’t even got going yet. So, something could change. But, I do think Edward saying this is noteworthy. He’s tapped into the team. He knows what’s going inside going on inside the building and I’m going to believe he predicted this for a certain reason. Not saying he absolutely knows, but he’s probably connecting the dots. We also know that Josh Hart told Tom Tibido in the playoffs that he should come off the bench and Mitchell Robinson should be the starter. So, I don’t necessarily think there will be any bad blood if Brown does elect to have Robins be the starter over Josh Hart. even though Josh Hart believes that he should be a starter and rightfully so, just had his best season in the NBA. To be honest with you though, I’m not the biggest fan of starting Mitchell Robinson. And that’s for a couple of different reasons. Um, when I think about what this team needs to be the best version of themselves, Mitchell Robbins provides some of those things, but on the other end where he brings up the Knicks floor, he somewhat lowers their ceiling as well. We know with him, the Knicks are going to be a much bigger team. They can run that double big lineup, and we saw that work well at times in the Boston Celtics series. We saw that work well at times in the Indiana Pacers series. And we saw in the 2023 2024 playoffs, the Minnesota Timberwolves were able to get to the Western Conference Finals with Carl Anthony Towns playing the four and Rudy Goar at the five. You’re going to be a better rebounding team on both sides of the floor. I wonder how much of a focus and really DNA of the Knicks team under Mike Brown will still revolve around offensive rebounding. We know that was Tom Tibido’s MO and we know defense will be better. slow size, rebounding and defense is all going to get better if Mitchell Robinson starts over Josh Hart. My question would be this. If you’re starting Robinson, is he going to play in backto backs this year? He did not last year. He was coming back from injury and rightfully so. He shouldn’t have played in backtobacks because at the end of the day, the only thing that matters for him is are you going to be able to be healthy in the playoffs and are you going to be healthy long enough in the playoffs to get 16 W’s? And I think having him play backto backs may change this and this is all that matters. And if you tell me, well, Marshall, we just won’t play him in backtobacks. Then I would say I think I counted 13 backto backs for the Knicks schedule this year. Uh don’t quote me on that. I’m bad at math. But in those 13 games, are we just going to run with a different starting lineup? Maybe. Probably not the end of the world. But I would like for my starting five to get the most reps as possible. And I don’t love the idea of having to change that every single time you play in a backtoback. And we know Mitchell Robinson is someone that has not really possessed the ability to consistently be healthy. And I don’t know if starting him every game and playing backto backs and getting a lot of high minutes in the regular season is conducive to this being healthy for the playoffs, which at the end of the day is the only thing that matters to me. There’s also pros of starting Josh Hart as well. Mike Brown wants to play fast. He wants to get up and down. He also wants to play fast in the half court, and I think you’re able to do that better with Josh Hart. He cuts better. He can operate on the floor from different spots better. And I think that he just fits a Mike Brown offense a little bit more. Five offensive threats. Look, I’m not going to try to convince anyone here that Josh Hart is some awesome offensive player, but he did average, I believe, his careerhigh this past year in points per game. He started off the season shooting 40% from three. And having five guys who can all dribble the ball, all make a play for themselves, pass, cut, and be at least at minimum some sort of threat on the perimeter is going to help. It’s also going to help with some spacing. Sort of. We know that Josh Hart is someone that has a shot that is very inconsistent. He can get hot and there can be stretches in of weeks where he is not. And we saw in the playoffs other teams put their starting centers on him, but he is more of a threat on the offensive end than Mitchell Robinson. So, pace of play, five offensive threats and more spacing for Carl Anthony Towns and Jaylen Brunson to work. And even if they do crash and help off of Hart, he is one of the best backdoor cutters in the NBA. I also think though Josh Hart should come off the bench. I am one of the biggest Josh Hart fans in the world. I name my dog Hart, so I don’t want to hear Mar just hate Josh Hart. No, I don’t. Um, got to have Hart. I’ve said that more than anybody uh in the world. But I do think he is better served in a smaller diet, like maybe 28 to 30 minutes per game instead of 38 to 42 minutes per game. And in those minutes, he could play more of a Josh Hart brand of basketball, which is balls to the wall, diving on the floor, being an Energizer Bunny, and pushing the pace off of the bench for the New York Knicks. To be honest, I don’t really even think any of the either of these gentlemen are the best starter for this organization. Um, I think the path for the Knicks to win the NBA title is pretty evident. With Jaylen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns, your defense is going to be your Achilles heel. And the way to kind of mask that is to have the best offense in the NBA. And I think that’s really one of the only ways this Knicks team can win it all. You need to maximize your offense so that it can somewhat mask your defensive efficiencies. Go all in on offense to make that side of the ball better and outweigh your defensive struggles. If you try to do both at the same time, you’re just going to lower the floor uh of your offense as well as the ceiling. So, the question becomes then, who on this roster can you add into the starting lineup that can elevate the offense and elevate the defense? It’s Miles McBride. I’ve been saying it now going on two seasons. Before the season started last year, I thought Miles McBride should have been in the starting lineup over Josh Hart. And I’m not going to say I was vindicated on that. Hart was awesome last year. But I truly believe if you’re trying to do both, elevate the offense while also elevating the defense. Miles McBride, he does that. First and foremost, he would give you a true point of attack defender. Male Bridges did a solid job last year while playing out of position on the defensive side of the court. He can guard small guards. He can do that, but he is a better defender off the ball and on the wing. Look how he defended Jaylen Brown. Look how he defended Jason Tatum. He was able to somewhat do a decent job against guys like Trey Young and Kate Cunningham, but he’s better on the wing. And if you could have Miles McBride be that point of attack defender and you have OG and an Obi and Male Bridges defending on the wing, that is going to significantly help your defense and help you in the pick and rolls as well. You can run a true five out offense with Deuce. You can have five players on the floor who are all plus three-point shooters in this league. It also gives you another ball handler. We saw against the Indiana Pacers when they up the ball pressure, the turnovers for the Knicks, they upped as well. And it allows Jaylen Brunson to play offball more, who by the numbers is the best offball player in the NBA going on a couple of seasons. Of all players last year to play in at least 60 games, Jaylen Brunson had the league’s best points per spot up. Think about it like this. when he played off the catch last year, every time he caught the pass, he scored 1.38 points per possession. Those are unreal numbers. And it’s replicated and shown in his catch and shoot three-point percentage on catch on catch and shoot threes in 2022 2023. His first year with the Knicks, he knocked down 47.6% on 1.9 attempts. 44.5% the following year on 2.5 attempts and down all the way to 42.1% this year 1.9 attempts. He is one of the best in the NBA on catch and shoot threes, but overall playing off the catch, he is one of the best in the NBA and he was number one in points per possession. So you get the best and even more so out of Jaylen Brunson on the offensive end while also upping your perimeter defense. And the numbers like they suggest that the best twoman lineup is Jaylen Brunson and Miles McBride. When Brunson and Robinson shared the court in the regular season, they were outscored by 0.2 points per 100 possessions. They did outscore other teams though by 2.4 points in 100 possessions in the playoffs. Josh Hart and Jaylen Brunson. They outscored teams when they shared the court by 1.3 points in the regular season and were outscored by 2.1 in 100 possessions in the playoffs. Miles McBride, the Knicks outscored teams by 6.9 points per 100 possessions in the regular season and nine points. The best on the team of any twoman lineup in the playoffs. Nine points. They’re outsc scoring teams per 100 possessions. Maybe there should be some more chatter about Deuce McBride being in the starting lineup. I’ll expand on these thoughts coming up in a second, but this New York Knicks Nike t-shirt, it is on sale. It was $35. Now it’s $28 at this link, chatsports.comny sale. Uh, excuse me, chatports.comnykale. That’s chatports.comnyk sale. That link will be clickable down in the comments and description. Take advantage of the deal. It won’t last forever. If you were to start Miles McBride alongside Brunson, Bridges, Anobian, and Towns, you would still have a really good bench unit. Your backup guard would be Jordan Clarkson. Your backup wing would be Josh Hart. Your backup four would be Gershon Yabellle. And your backup five would be Mitchell Robinson. Still with the ability to play Tyler Kulk and Pakcom Dier and Ariel Huckporty. This team’s going nine deep. The nine man rotation is Clarkson, Hart, Yabiselli, Robinson, McBride, Brunson, Bridges, Anobian Towns. Those are going to be the nine man playing every single night. And I just think with Miles McBride playing it and allows Jordan Clarkson to be that guard off the bench. McBride comes out, Clarkson comes in, Brunson comes out, Clarkson goes in, one of the wings go out, Josh Hart comes in, you want to take another one of Anobi out, that could be Yabisell or Mitchell Robinson come in for Carl Anthony Towns. I would make Miles McBride the fifth starter. That’s what I would do. Um I don’t know how likely it is. Seems like it’s the least likely of the three options, but that’s where I’m at. That’s what I would do. I’ve given you the numbers. I’ve given you the data. Do it again. What fifthear starter do you think uh fifthear starter? What fifth player should be the starter on this team? Robinson, Deuce, or Hart? My guess is Mitchell Robinson will be that guy. Um, I think that is what the front office wants. I think that that’s what we’re going to get and that’s what your roster is going to look like. Brunson, Bridges, Anobi, Towns, and Robinson with Yabisell most likely being the first guy off the bench and then a guy like Clarkson coming in for Brunson, McBride coming in for Bridges and Hart coming in for Anobi. And those are going to be your nine guys. I’m fine with any of the three starting. I think all of them will work out. Um, but I definitely lean more towards the Deuce McBride being in the starting lineup. The data shows all the way back to the Emanuel Quickley days when Brunson plays alongside another guard, he’s at his best. I don’t know why they don’t lean into that a little bit more. Maybe Male Bridges will handle the Rockmore this year and they’ll try to replicate those looks. We’ll see. I’m getting pumped up though. Knicks basketball, it’s almost back. It will be back. It’s right around the corner. Make sure you are following me on social media. I’m on Twitter. I’m on Instagram. Marshall Green [Music]

New York Knicks rumors suggest Knicks head coach Mike Brown will bench forward Josh Hart ahead of the 2025 NBA season, via James Edwards III of the Athletic. Hart, a former Villanova Wildcat alongside NY Knicks teammate Jalen Brunson, was benched during the 2025 NBA playoffs against the Indiana Pacers during the Eastern Conference Finals. Knicks team president Leon Rose signed Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele, adding to a rotation that also features Karl Anthony-Towns, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Miles “Deuce” McBride. Knicks Now host Marshall Green previews all the latest New York Knicks news, rumors and injury updates on today’s show.

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Knicks 2024-2025 regular season starting lineup:
Point guard: Jalen Brunson
Shooting guard: Mikal Bridges
Small forward: OG Anunoby
Power forward: Josh Hart
Center: Karl Anthony-Towns

Knicks 2025-2026 projected starting lineup:
Point guard: Jalen Brunson
Shooting guard: Mikal Bridges
Small forward: OG Anunoby
Power forward: Karl Anthony-Towns
Center: Mitchell Robinson

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2025 NBA playoff NY Knicks starting 5 net rating:
– Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl Anthony-Towns
– With Hart (335 MINS):-6.2
– With Mitch (65 MINS): -3.7

Who should Knicks coach Mike Brown’s 5th starter be? Sound off in the comments Knicks Nation! ⬇️:
Type 3 for Josh Hart | 23 for Mitchell Robinson | 2 for Miles McBride

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