This season, some of the New York Knicks’ defensive issues stem from being too small. This diminutive problem results in ineffective closeouts on the perimeter and insufficient protection at the rim when their center is drawn away by stretch bigs. The frontcourt gets even smaller when six-foot-eight Julius Randle subs out and six-foot-four Josh Hart covers for him, causing more mismatches.
The Knicks need a solid backup power forward to fill in behind Randle for 15-20 minutes per game. With the trade window opening on December 15, we are scanning the rosters for trade candidates. The Golden State Warriors have a guy who might fit the backup power forward role nicely.