Insider Predicts Knicks Starting Center

The New York Knicks have a few choices for who their starting center should be.

Mar 23, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) looks to post up against New York Knicks center Jericho Sims (45) in the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images / Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The New York Knicks have a number of different directions they can go in as they look to name a starting center for the beginning of the season.

In a perfect world, it would have been Isaiah Hartenstein like it was a year ago, but he signed a three-year deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the offseason.

The next best option would be Mitchell Robinson, but he is still recovering from offseason foot surgery, and he will be held out until either December or January.

This leaves the Knicks with just a few options for the starting center spot, but SNY insider Ian Begley believes it is time for Jericho Sims to step up for New York.

"My first guess is Sims starting and Achiuwa backing him up," Begley writes. "This answer assumes that Randle is not ready to start the season. We should get an update from Thibodeau next week on Randle’s status. For what it’s worth, I didn’t take this answer from Thibodeau as a guarantee that Randle will be on the court at the start of camp. If he is on the court to start camp, Randle would be significantly ahead of the traditional rehab schedule,"

Randle is also recovering from a surgery of his own, so the Knicks are going to need some size somewhere on the floor. Sims stands 6-10, which is the same height as Hartenstein. That should give him an edge over the 6-8 Achiuwa, who doubles as both a center and power forward option for the team.

Achiuwa may have the higher ceiling, but Sims may provide more of what the Knicks are looking for. Either way, the Knicks will likely try multiple lineups in the preseason and early in the regular season, so whoever gets the job first may not necessarily be the one to keep it.

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