Best Early Guess at Knicks' Depth Chart for 2026-27 Season

The NBA draft is a thing of the past, free agency is all but over, Summer League is done, and the 2026-27 NBA regular season schedule has been released, which means we're in the final stretch of the offseason.

With just about five weeks remaining before training camp starts, let's take a look at how the defending champions' depth chart may look heading into the 2026-27 season.

Point guard

Jalen Brunson

Obviously, very little needs to be said here. The reigning Finals MVP is the team's best player and will likely lead the team in minutes once again. That being said, with even less of an emphasis on the regular season and the captain being a year older, I could see him take a slight step back in the minutes department.

Mike Brown and the training staff did a much better job of monitoring the starters' minutes last season, and with Jose Alvarado giving the Knicks a full season with an experienced backup point guard, I wouldn't be surprised to see Brunson average maybe 34, or even 33.5 minutes per game instead of the 36 he averaged last season.

Jose Alvarado

Alvarado will slot in nicely as the de facto backup point guard, something the Knicks didn't have until his arrival last season. Tyler Kolek was on the roster, but his inconsistent playing time was evident, showing that the Brown hadn't fully trusted him yet. The veteran reserve will give the bench unit the ball handler and initiator they need, and he should average around 18-20 MPG.

Tyler Kolek

In his second year in the league, Kolek appeared in 62 games. But he only averaged 11.7 MPG. As they look to continue developing Kolek, both for their own and potential trade purposes, he could see another bump in appearances and minutes.

Barring injuries to Brunson or Alvarado, or an unexpectedly massive development from Kolek, his role on this team will be limited.

Shooting guard

Josh Hart

Nobody saw their minutes decline more than Hart did. After averaging a whopping 37 MPG under Tom Thibodeau in the 2024-25 season, the guard averaged just 30.2 MPG last season. With Mohamed Diawara expected to assume a larger role, expect every wing player to see fewer minutes.

And despite Hart continuing to be an enigmatic and polarizing part of the Knicks' success, he's still undoubtedly an important part, one that the Knicks may continue to try and keep fresh for the postseason.

Miles McBride

McBride is a point guard by height, but with Alvarado now in the fold, he'll spend much of his time on the floor as a traditional shooting guard. And that should bode well for the 25-year-old.

With fewer ball-handling duties, the sharpshooter should continue to shine offensively. He'll likely hover around the 25-27MPG mark that he averaged last season and remain an integral part of Brown's rotation. And given his elite point-of-attack defense and aforementioned shooting, he's still a very viable candidate as a replacement for when a perimeter starter has to miss games.

Jordan Clarkson

The Knicks' oldest player returns on another one-year contract, but his role still remains unknown. Last season, he appeared in 72 games and averaged 17.8 MPG, but his role and minutes were consistently in flux.

He spent earlier portions of the season playing a pretty significant role off the bench but saw his minutes tail off midseason as his inconsistency and inefficient scoring couldn't justify his lack of defense. But when he reinvented himself into a more team-oriented player, providing ball pressure and offensive rebounding, he saw his minutes increase again.

But with so many perimeter bench players returning and Diawara, as mentioned earlier, expected to play a bit more, Clarkson could be the odd man out. Don't be surprised if his minutes are even more sporadic than they were last season.

Small forward

Mikal Bridges

If there's one thing we can count on with the active leader in consecutive games played is that he'll be on the court. That being said, Bridges, like Hart, also saw a significant decline in his minutes.

After averaging 37 MPG the season prior, Bridges averaged just 32.8 MPG last season. He's clearly an important piece to the Knicks' puzzle, but expect him to be close to 31-32 MPG again this season.

Landry Shamet

Shamet is listed as a guard, and to be fair, that is his natural position. The one he's more or less been playing his entire career. But on a team that rosters two short guards as major bench pieces, Shamet, as he did in the second half of last season, will technically be a wing.

He's one of the few bench players whose minutes could be impacted by Diawara, but then again, his heroics last season could earn him a slightly larger role as well. It's hard to pinpoint exactly how much he'll play, but slot him in for 21+MPG once again.

Pacome Dadiet

It's very difficult for a young player to get significant minutes on a team looking to win a championship. It's even more difficult when that player is still developing, and the team is loaded with proven veterans at his position.

Dadiet may see a very incremental increase in minutes and games, but barring a very unexpected trade or major injuries, Dadiet will remain buried on the bench.

Power forward

OG Anunoby

If there's one recurring theme here, it's the fact that the starters could see another slight downtick in minutes as they prioritize staying healthy and fresh for the postseason. And that's especially true for Anunoby, who's dealt with hamstring injuries in two of the past three postseasons.

He saw his minutes go from 36.6 to 33.2 last season. Could we see 32 or even 31 minutes per game? I don't see why not.

Mohamed Diawara

Diawara has come up as the one consistent variable that could really shake up the rotation. He won't start barring a major injury, but his fresh legs and intriguing skillset could be a nice way to buy a bit more rest for the veteran wings while continuing to develop him.

Diawara averaged just 9.2 minutes per game in 69 games last season. But with a new contract and new expectations, he should be taking some minutes from Anunoby, Bridges, Clarkson, and maybe even Shamet.

Center

Karl-Anthony Towns

Everybody saw just how important Towns is to the Knicks' success. Fortunately for New York, he's been relatively durable since becoming a Knick. He averaged four minutes per game less (35.0) than the season prior (31.0), but he could be one of the starters to see his minutes unaffected.

In fact, he could even see his minutes go up a bit. Andre Drummond is solid, but he isn't Mitchell Robinson. He's not getting any younger and comes with durability questions of his own. And as of now, they don't have a third string center. That's likely to change, but how much will the Knicks lean on them?

Andre Drummond

While the aforementioned concerns are real, Drummond should still be a very solid backup. He and Robinson both averaged right around 19 MPG last season, so the early belief is that he'll slot right in and soak up those minutes.

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