Josh Hart and Jericho Sims may have some company backing up Julius Randle at power forward.
Center Isaiah Hartenstein is an option as well, coach Tom Thibodeau said after Wednesday’s practice.
Both Sims and Hartenstein have been working out at both the power-forward and center spots, according to the coach.
“[Hartenstein] and Jericho, they play very effectively together. And oftentimes, I’ll go more by how they’re being defended, who do they have their 4 on, who do they have their 5 on?” Thibodeau said.
Hartenstein played a lot of 4 growing up, so he is at least somewhat used to it.
The biggest difference is spacing and reading what his teammates are doing compared to initiating offense more at the 5.
Either way, it sounds like the two will share the court together at times against bigger lineups.
A year ago, Sims and Hartenstein were on the court at the same time for 128 minutes, mostly when Obi Toppin was out due to injury.
The Knicks rebounded very well in those instances, producing a sky-high offensive rebounding percentage of 37.9.
They were, it should be noted, outscored by the opposition by 3.1 points per 100 possessions in that alignment and averaged only 106.3 points per 100 possessions.
“I think when me and Jericho are on the court, they’ll probably want me to be in the passing game so I’ll be more [playing the 5] that way I can facilitate,” Hartenstein said. “But then just in pick-and-roll stuff, just trying to space out the court, read what they’re doing and just make everyone’s life easier.”
Thibodeau started off his media session offering condolences to the family of Brendan Malone, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 81.
The father of Nuggets coach Mike Malone, Brendan Malone served three stints as an assistant coach with the Knicks and grew up in Astoria, Queens.
“All-time great coach, great guy. I learned a ton from him,” said Thibodeau, who was on the same staff as Malone with the Knicks from 1996-2000.
“He was a great example for a young coach to follow both on the court and off the court. Thoughts and prayers to his wife, Maureen, and to Michael and their entire family. But New York City legend, high-school coach, five-star coach, Knick assistant, several-times a head coach. He’s a great coach, period, but a great man.”
The Knicks continue to bring along Hart slowly after he played in the FIBA World Cup.
Hart didn’t play in the preseason opener and is being given a break.
“We just wanna make sure he’s completely healthy before we completely ramp him up,” Thibodeau said.