NY Knicks Insider: Bench Will Make or Break 2016-17 Team's Chances

NEW YORK — The 2016-17 season will be Carmelo Anthony’s 15th in the NBA. He’s also 32 years old and since joining the Knicks six years ago has had his left knee operated on twice.

Unfortunately, this is par for the Knicks' core. 

If the Knicks remain healthy this season, they could rise to the top of the Eastern Conference. But what happens when the injuries start to mount? 

There’s Derrick Rose, whose medical history we’re all familiar with (162 games missed over the past four years) and who’s already missed multiple practices and preseason games due a civil rape suit in Los Angeles. If the civil suit ends in a mistrial, the case would be retried during the regular season. The ongoing Los Angeles Police Department investigation into the rape charges could pull Rose away from the team as well.

Free-agent acquisition Joakim Noah, another former All-Star on the back nine of his career, played just 29 games last year due to a bum left shoulder and has spent the past couple of weeks watching from the sidelines thanks to a hamstring injury.

Brandon Jennings, signed to a one-year deal in the offseason as an insurance policy to Rose, ruptured his left Achilles tendon less than two years ago. And Lance Thomas, who emerged last year as a valuable 3-and-D guy off the bench, is coming off a season in which a series of injuries to his left knee kept him off the floor for 23 games.

So what if Rose, Noah and Anthony all miss significant time and Jennings’ recovered Achilles leads to another issue? Or if Kristaps Porzingis’ knees (breathe, Knicks fans, breathe) don’t hold up in Year 2?

Knicks president Phil Jackson recently acknowledged in a podcast with Shaquille O'Neal that he's aware of the inherent risks in building a team out of a bunch of past-their-prime parts, per Ian Begley of ESPN.com. What he’s yet to explain, though, is the more egregious decision to leave new head coach Jeff Hornacek with such a seemingly feeble group of reinforcements.

If Rose indeed misses a chunk of time due to his civil trial, the Knicks would then be turning over backup point guard duties to either Sasha Vujacic or Chasson Randle.

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At 32, Vujacic is certainly well past his prime. He doesn’t have much burst left and rarely steps inside the three-point line (though at least the floppy hair is gone). But he did shoot the ball well last year during his late-season stint with the Knicks (36 percent from deep) and has no qualms giving effort on defense. He also is familiar with the triangle offense from his time with the Lakers and is comfortable playing the point.

“I actually came into the NBA as a point guard,” he said Tuesday night following the Knicks’ preseason victory over the Wizards. “The position isn’t new to me.” 

It’s the 23-year-old Randle, though, who’s stood out most during the preseason and who presents the Knicks with their most intriguing option. 

His fluidity within the Knicks' offensive scheme is a plus. He played four seasons at Stanford for then-head coach Johnny Dawkins, who also ran the triangle, and averaged 16.5 points while shooting 38 percent from deep. He played just as well last year in the Czech Republic, where he averaged 14.5 points and connected on 38 percent of his threes for champion CEZ Nymburk.

"He has a good understanding how to play (our offense), where the shots are, but the bigger thing is he has great hands, gets low on defense," Hornacek said of Randle recently. "Offensively, he understands what’s going on, but defensively is where, as a point guard, it’s tough playing some of these guys, getting over screens, (he) does a great job getting his hands on balls, he recovers, got long arms. He may not be that tall, but he’s got long arms. He’s just a smooth player, doesn’t press, lets the game come to him."

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Hornacek’s not the only person in the locker room Randle has impressed.

"I love him," Anthony said. "I just love his poise out there, the way he controls the game, controls the basketball. He can push the pace. He can slow it down. I think you guys would love him too, the more that you see him play."

As for the front court, the Knicks might have unearthed a gem with Willy Hernangomez.

Hernangomez, a 22-year-old from Spain, was selected by the Sixers and traded to the Knicks in the second round of the 2015 draft. He spent the last three seasons playing for Sevilla in Spain’s ACB League, widely considered the world's second-best basketball league.

“You can see how comfortable he is and tell that he’s been a pro for a long time,” backup power forward Kyle O’Quinn said.

“In some ways, his feel for the game is better than Kristaps’ was (when I coached them),” said Scott Roth, who coached both Hernangomez and Porzingis in Spain and now serves as a scout for the Timberwolves. “He has a very good feel for passing and moving and is a deceivingly decent athlete.” 

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The presence of Porzingis, with whom he shares an agent and played with in Spain, has helped Hernangomez transition as well. 

He's still adjusting, however. He frequently brings the ball below his waist while flashing to the hoop—a maneuver that contributed to his five-turnover output Tuesday against the Washington Wizards—and has been late on a number of rotations. But in training camp and the preseason he’s shown glimpses—a baby hook, a strong pick, a savvy dish—of the player Roth described.

“He’s an excellent pick-and-roll player, can pass and can hit from around 15 feet,” Roth added. “On defense, he’s not going to block shots, but if he learns positioning he can defend shots in the paint that way.”

O'Quinn, who underwhelmed in his first season last year in New York (4.8 points, 3.8 rebounds), is still the favorite to serve as first big man off the bench, but it’s Hernangomez who offers the highest ceiling.

Rounding out the group is Lou Amundson, who never did much more than jump around and wave his arms. Now, at 33 with a bad back, he can no longer jump. Justin Holiday is a 6'6" journeyman who’s shot just 14 percent in the preseason and has looked lost on defense. Maurice Ndour, a 24-year-old forward, played in Spain last year. Then there's Mindaugas Kuzminskas, a 26-year-old rookie from Lithuania.

And yet, given the state of the bodies in front of them, it’s easy to dream up scenarios where are a number of these players wind up seeing significant minutes in crucial games. 

How they handle them will likely determine the Knicks’ fate this season. 

Basketball Boroughs

Beware of the Cross

Porzingis has spoken frequently this preseason about how much time he spent this summer working on his handle, and he’s already put new moves on display. 

There was this step-back against the Rockets in the Knicks’ preseason opener:

And look what he did here to poor Jason Smith:

"

holy kristaps crossover pic.twitter.com/RMdiJiLXNa

— LØØPSØØP (@vineydelnegro) October 11, 2016"

One note of caution: Porzingis lost the ball a couple of times to Wizards players on Tuesday while putting the ball on the floor in the post. His dribble is still a bit high and loose (he is, after all, 7’3"), and scouting reports are going to soon highlight his new crossover as well.

How he adjusts is something worth monitoring.

Noah Update

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You know the 31-year-old center the Knicks signed to a four-year, $72 million deal? He's still not practicing with the team due to a hamstring injury suffered during training camp in early October.

Joakim Noah has yet to suit up for a preseason game and spent the last week watching the team practice from the sidelines. He has been getting some shooting in after practices and before games, and Hornacek did say he expects him to return soon.

But given Noah’s age and the nature of the injury (you don’t want a minor injury morphing into a major one), it’s likely the Knicks play this one conservatively. 

Yoga for One Day...Maybe Keeps the Doctor Away?

So this is one way to go about keeping your star players healthy, just don’t expect to see too many more photos of Vujacic in a downward dog come scrolling across your Twitter feed.

“That was the first time we did it all training camp,” Lance Thomas said when asked about the team yoga session.

The team hasn’t done it since.

Leaking D 

One trend worth paying attention to is how many three-pointers the Knicks surrender. Hornacek has repeatedly mentioned this preseason how he wants his players overloading the strong side on the defense, something which is apparently not out of character for him.

“He’s big on that,” Kyle Korver, who played for Hornacek in Utah when he was an assistant coach, said in a phone interview.

“That’s something we’ve been doing a lot of,” said Courtney Lee, another Knicks offseason addition.

But the Knicks have allowed opponents to launch 32 three-pointers per game during the preseason, a high mark. Only 33 percent of those shots have gone in, but it’s worth monitoring whether these looks are a result of the Knicks’ scrambling on defense.

Yaron Weitzman covers the Knicks, and other things, for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @YaronWeitzman.