Knicks Rumors: Multiple Players 'Grumbling' About Preseason Playing Time
The 2019-20 NBA regular season hasn't even started yet, but there is reportedly already trouble in paradise between head coach David Fizdale and members of the New York Knicks roster.
According to SNY's Ian Begley, the manner in which Fizdale has mixed and matched his lineup during the preseason has led to some "grumbling" among Knicks players about their playing time and roles.
After missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year last season, the Knicks made some significant changes to their roster during the offseason, leaving Fizdale with the task of figuring out the best way to utilize all his new pieces.
Since the Knicks were unable to land a big fish like Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving in free agency, they used their cap space to sign a number of new players to short-term deals. Among the additions are guards Elfrid Payton, Wayne Ellington and Reggie Bullock, and forwards Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Marcus Morris and Taj Gibson.
New York also selected RJ Barrett with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft out of Duke. He was added to an existing young core that included forward Kevin Knox, center Mitchell Robinson and guards Frank Ntilikina and Dennis Smith Jr.
The Knicks have a lot of interchangeable parts, which suggests the rotation will be fairly deep and that all 12 active players could see significant playing time on a game-to-game basis.
Barrett, Randle, Knox and Robinson seem like strong bets to start and be the team's top options, but there are major question marks beyond them.
Payton, Ntilikina and Smith are all in the mix to start at point guard. Ellington, Bullock, Allonzo Trier and Damyean Dotson will likely fight for playing time at shooting guard behind Barrett. Portis, Morris and Gibson may struggle to find the amount of minutes they expected behind Randle at power forward.
There is little doubt that the Knicks are far more talented now than they were last season when they went 17-65, but the talent may not mean much if Fizdale doesn't find a way to make the players mesh and keep them happy.
Each of the Knicks' past two head coaches have lasted two seasons or less, which may put even more pressure on Fizdale to find the right combinations immediately.
