What Knicks' Preseason Lineups Could Mean for Initial Rotation

The Knicks' preseason is officially over, allowing the defending NBA Champions to turn their focus to Tuesday's 2026-27 season openera against the 76ers.

During the preseason, New York fans saw various lineup combinations from head coach Mike Brown, who said the finale's rotation was "close to what it'll be in the regular season." That said, here's a breakdown of what we saw in the exhibition and what it could mean moving forward.

Og Anunoby and Mikal Bridges headlining units

Brown has discussed giving Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby more handling reps in the offense, and this lineup can do just that. Last season, excluding low-leverage, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns shared time on the bench for only 290 minutes. This is an extremely low amount of time. I referenced this in my last rotation projection as Brown has always sought to split his two stars, keeping at least one of them on the floor.

This lineup must also play with pace and lean on its defensive upside as a unit. Jose Alvarado at guard supplies a reliable, high-pressure handler and pace pusher without giving up much on the defensive end. Anunoby and Andre Drummond anchor the frontline alongside some of the team’s better point-of-attack defenders.

Overall, I like this combination, and the shooting on the floor adds to the appeal.

We saw some handling reps for both Bridges and Anunoby during the preseason. Plays like this one will give them touches and chances to execute. Anunoby receives the ball out of an “out” screen, which gets him an angle in the pick-and-roll so he can attack the middle of the floor with his right hand. The Knicks help him by creating space on the action as they push Bridges baseline and open his driving gap by shifting Alvarado into that corner.

Keeping the stars together

In the last preseason game, we saw Brown deploy Brunson and KAT alongside Miles McBride, Landry Shamet, and Pacome Dadiet. With Bridges and Anunoby rotating alongside bench players, I project Josh Hart joining this group at the four. I previously discussed how the Brunson-McBride-Hart group has won a ton of minutes for the Knicks over the last few years, and pairing them more could pay off.

There's a misconception that smaller players can’t play up a position without hurting the team. That hasn’t been true for New York, since Hart rebounds so prolifically and his influence has extended to every lineup he anchors at the four so far. Offensive rebounding differential basically measures who wins the battle on the glass, and New York still wins it with Hart at the four, despite his size. The same goes for McBride, who profiles as a wing and impacts the game like one.

Setting aside the ancillary pieces, pairing Brunson and Towns can amplify both of their games, especially when Towns draws the opposing big man. Brown has shown this preseason that he wants to see more of the duo together. But how far does that desire stretch? Does he lean on the pairing more when the defense matches Towns with a big, and pull back when a wing guards him? Their latest matchup against Toronto put that on full display, with pure dominance in their two-man actions.

Overview

Brown's potential change of keeping the stars together, along with opening up more opportunity for their wings on the ball, is something he hasn't done in a large capacity as the coach of the Knicks. It's worth it to try, as the Knicks want to continuously understand and experiment with their roster en route to another potentially deep playoff run.

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