Knicks mailbag: Julius Randle at center? Updates to Tom Thibodeau’s staff?

Even during the NBA’s quietest period, the questions don’t stop.

What happens at center if Mitchell Robinson gets hurt? Can Julius Randle play the five? How big of a deal is Johnnie Bryant’s exit?

The 2024-25 New York Knicks have taken shape. Fourteen players are locked into the roster, so it’s time to dive into how they fit together.

You submitted questions. We have answers.

Part 2 of this mailbag will publish on a later date. Here is Part 1.

(Questions have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

Fred, the front office knows what the fans know: You can’t count on Mitch to play a full season. How does the team solve this issue if Mitch gets hurt early (camp or November) or later (December to the deadline)?

— Submitted by Jeff B.

With patchwork — and maybe a little innovation.

Here’s my guess: Precious Achiuwa moves into the starting lineup, slotting alongside Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Randle. Jericho Sims enters the rotation. And at times, the Knicks go smaller at the five than they have during the Tom Thibodeau era.

Achiuwa already is not your ideal rim protector. His defensive strength comes away from the basket, where Thibodeau will use him to switch onto various types of opponents. If Robinson weren’t available, I could see the Knicks playing around with matchups.

For example, even when Achiuwa is on the court, Anunoby could be the one guarding centers, similarly to how the Knicks deployed him during Game 4 of their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers this past spring, when Robinson was hurt, Isaiah Hartenstein was in foul trouble and Achiuwa had to play the five. In that instance, Anunoby manned former MVP Joel Embiid, and Achiuwa stuck to a forward, Tobias Harris.

There was a world where the Knicks could have tried strategies like that more during the 2023-24 regular season, but Anunoby’s injuries got in the way.

Thibodeau hinted throughout the year that he wanted to try Anunoby at the five but preferred to get the 27-year-old, who the team traded for midseason, acquainted first. Anunoby played in only 14 games before hurting his elbow, eventually undergoing surgery. He returned a month and a half later, then injured the elbow again and had a hamstring injury afterward.

Now, Bridges is in the mix, too, adding another elite defensive presence. And that brings us to the topic of the summer, a lineup construction the Knicks could try whether Robinson is healthy or not.

Is there any possibility of seeing legitimate OG/Randle frontcourt minutes? OG seemed to do a solid job defending Embiid in the playoffs, and Mitch will certainly pick up an injury or two throughout the season. It could also free up some minutes for the other wings.

— Submitted by Alex T.

It is not a mailbag about the Knicks without questions regarding Randle playing the five — only this time, this isn’t part of some plea to find Obi Toppin more minutes. It’s possible Randle receives more time at center this upcoming season than he has since joining the Knicks in 2019 … and that’s because he may not actually be playing center.

The holdup in years past was the lack of rim protection that came with Randle at the five. He and Toppin, for example, didn’t provide enough resistance in the paint, which worried Thibodeau, who builds his defenses from the inside out. The concern wasn’t just about giving up layups and dunks. It was about how an offense could slice them up from the middle.

Ballhandlers could glide all the way to the hoop. They could require helpers to collapse from the outside and into the paint, opening up stand-still 3-pointers from the corners or wings.

That type of mess is not for Thibodeau, but it wouldn’t be the reality with Randle at the five this season.

This season’s Knicks don’t have conventional rim protection beyond Robinson. But do you know when rim protection becomes less important? When you don’t allow anyone to get to the rim at all.

The Knicks employ possibly the league’s best defensive wing combination in Anunoby and Bridges. Drivers can’t power past either without a fight. And there is one other large difference from the Toppin days: This time, Randle would play center only nominally.

In reality, Anunoby would guard fives. Randle would be the power forward on defense. On the other side, they would reverse roles. Randle could be the one setting screens for Brunson and fighting for offensive boards as Anunoby spaces to the corner.

Rebounding could become an issue. Plugging Josh Hart into some of those lineups could help. But Randle at the five, even when you view it from Thibodeau’s perspective, is more practical now than ever. I could see it happening.

Why did the Knicks sign Cam Payne over Tyus Jones for the same money?

— Submitted by Murray K.

There is more to life than just money.

Jones is not a minimum-caliber player — and he sneakily churned out a great season when no one was watching him with the Washington Wizards last season. He signed with the Phoenix Suns because he wanted to start.

He would’ve been a bench player with the Knicks — who already have a decent point guard. The situations are not the same.

Explain the fit Jonas Valančiūnas would have on the Knicks as part of a midseason trade. … I have a very hard time not believing a conspiracy that this is the CBA’s first “delayed S&T” (where the OTHER team signs a guy with the explicit purpose of trading them on Dec. 15 to another one).

— Anonymous

I am not obsessed with Valančiūnas’ hypothetical fit with the Knicks.

Yes, he’s a large body, and the Knicks could use one more of those, but I wouldn’t advise they acquire someone only because he’s a 7-footer. Valančiūnas is a beast on the boards and can step out for the occasional 3-pointer. Still, he’s not a Thibodeau-style center. He’s not deterring drivers from the basket. His impact last season never quite matched his counting stats.

The New Orleans Pelicans, who he played with in 2023-24 before heading to Washington this summer, recognized that. They offered him to much of the league leading into February’s trade deadline, according to opposing executives who were in contact with them at the time. His playing time dwindled in March and April. There was never a doubt New Orleans would let him walk in the offseason. And keep the context in mind. You think the Knicks have center problems because they’re without a conventional backup? The Pelicans, who are coming off a 49-win campaign, don’t even have an obvious starter.

Other centers, including Achiuwa, may fit New York’s roster better.

Who is Tom Thibodeau’s right hand on the coaching staff? Who has the biggest input on his decisions and his calls? It seemed to me it was Johnnie Bryant, so if that was the case, who would take his place?

— Submitted by Sergio F Esquivel

I wouldn’t say there is an assistant with the largest impact. If there is one element we know about Thibodeau, it’s that you get the authentic version of him if he’s your coach, no matter who else is on the bench.

For what it’s worth, I would not have called Bryant — who was originally hired by the front office, not Thibodeau — his right-hand man. Bryant took an equivalent job with the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer. If the Knicks felt they needed to keep him, they could have.

Andy Greer and Rick Brunson are Thibodeau loyalists and have been with him for years. Brunson, especially, is his muscle, someone who will say whatever he believes with vigor behind it. Darren Erman has been in New York since Thibodeau took over. Mo Cheeks is joining the staff for this season. He and Thibodeau have never before worked together, but Cheeks is a Hall of Fame player, a veteran assistant with head-coaching experience and, more relevant to this topic, a longtime friend of Thibodeau.

In some ways, the answer to this question may be Dice Yoshimoto, a second-row coach without the résumés of the aforementioned but who sticks to Thibodeau like glue. Yoshimoto was a video coordinator for Thibodeau in Chicago and went with him to Minnesota before taking an assistant job under him in New York. During the year Thibodeau took off between the Timberwolves and Knicks, he got Yoshimoto a job at University of Georgia, working for Thibodeau’s friend, Tom Crean.

Thibodeau listens to Yoshimoto. During that one collegiate year, Yoshimoto was the first person to point out Immanuel Quickley to his mentor. Quickley was an ideal Thibodeau fit, Yoshimoto said. After all, he knew from coaching against Quickley in the SEC. Less than a year later, Thibodeau became one of the driving forces behind the Knicks drafting Quickley. He credits Yoshimoto for that.

So, Sergio, your answer is: Everyone has a bit of a contribution, but Thibodeau’s unique personality controls the show. Thibodeau has lost assistants since coming to New York. Mike Woodson took the job at Indiana University. Kenny Payne went to the University of Louisville. The dynamic didn’t change much after they departed. I don’t anticipate it will do so this time, either.

(Photo of Julius Randle: Dustin Satloff / Getty Images)