Jericho Sims was primarily used as a center last season, but it looks like he’ll see more time at power forward, writes Fred Katz of The Athletic. Sims logged most of his 26 minutes at the four during the Knicks’ preseason opener on Monday as Josh Hart sat out the game. Hart will be the primary backup to Julius Randle after New York traded away Obi Toppin this summer, but coach Tom Thibodeau plans to employ Sims in that role as well.
“We wanted to get a look at that with (Sims) on the floor,” Thibodeau said. “With Josh out and Julius playing limited minutes, it was a good opportunity for that.”
Katz notes that Sims played just 139 minutes last season alongside either Mitchell Robinson or Isaiah Hartenstein. Thibodeau may use those combinations more often against bigger lineups, even though it limits what the team can do on offense. The lack of spacing was a concern in Monday’s game, Katz observes, as Sims was left virtually unguarded in the corner as drivers encountered multiple defenders in the paint.
Hartenstein has also been seeing time at power forward in practice, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post, and Thibodeau likes how he and Sims work together on the court.
“(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.
There’s more from New York:
- Hart sat out the opener because the Knicks are being cautious after he spent the summer representing Team USA in the World Cup, Braziller adds. “We just wanna make sure he’s completely healthy before we completely ramp him up,” Thibodeau said.
- The Knicks are determined not to repeat the mistakes of two years ago when they followed a playoff season by winning just 37 games, Braziller notes in a separate story. There were significant roster moves that led to that letdown, but the organization emphasized continuity this summer, with free agent Donte DiVincenzo as the only significant addition. “The team was a little different. We had to try to figure things out differently,” RJ Barrett recalled. “It didn’t end up working out. That’s what I’ll say is the difference. This year, we added Donte, but we pretty much have the same guys out there. I think it should be better.”
- Miles McBride believes he’ll be able to earn playing time, even though four guards currently appear to be ahead of him, according to Stefan Bondy of The New York Post. The defensive specialist worked to improve his three-point shot this summer and spent time training with his older brother in Australia. “I feel like the way I play, I’m going to create an opportunity for myself,” McBride said.
Sims at PF is a bit of a weird fit, but he is surprisingly agile and does have a functioning jumper. No 3pt ability shown yet (he’s only taken 1 at the NBA level, a heave rather than an actual shot), but it’s worth trying. Certainly a better option than trying to use Josh Barkley- excuse me, Josh Hart as a primary PF. No matter how good Hart is at rebounding or defending guys bigger than him, he shouldn’t be used that way constantly. His versatility is his greatest asset. And even if he can do it, his size will still be an issue just from the sheer gap. See Williams, Patrick.
The article says primary “backup”. It sounds more like they are looking to see who works best in what situations than any specific role.
Yeah, but even then, Hart isn’t going to be starting a ton. Or if he is, he’ll still be moving around do different spots and situations to take advantage of the mismatches that he creates.
If his role is to primarily back up at PF, he’ll be spending the majority of his minutes at PF. Which isn’t great.
Sorry, I should’ve been more clear.
No need to be sorry. You obviously know more about Hart than I do. I just thought you might have missed that part.
NYK are planning to use the backup minutes at PF (which don’t figure to be more than 16 mins) to get more minutes for their perimeter players. That makes sense based on the composition of their roster, their spacing issues last year, and the ever diminishing physicality in the league.
So, I don’t really think Sims is directly competing for the backup minutes at PF. I imagine his preseason minutes are more about seeing if he can establish himself as an option if defensive issues (beyond what’s expected) arise with the smaller lineups. If the idea was to use a second big PF as Randle’s backup, Toppin wouldn’t have been dealt or he’d have been replaced a more physical veteran appropriate for the role, and DiV probably isn’t signed. Of course, he could always flip the script. Sims playing with either of the C’s does give us an impressive defensive look. Sims is a gifted man defender, more so than a rim protector. But concerns for the other side of the court was their offseason focus.
Toppin has the height of a PF but plays like a wing. Hart is more of a PF than Obi is.
At times, yes. But we proved over and over that we could easily compensate for Obi’s lack of physicality, whereas it remains to be seen whether we can compensate for Hart’s lack of length. I don’t see it as a big issue, but we’re not a long team to start with.
I just don’t see Sims hoisting a bunch of 3s so using him in the corner isnt very useful (he took a grand total of 0 3rs in college). However, he looks to be a good slasher, sets excellent screens and if they play him with a lot of off ball movement I can see him making plays 10 feet and in. If he’s in with Hartenstein, I could even see the two of them switching up and Sims staying near the basket and Hartenstein switching out for 3s. Overall the Knicks have 4 players in the lineup who could/should hit close to 40% on 3 (Brunson, Donte, IQ and Grimes) so I have hope they might surprise on the upside in that area.