Everyone wants the New York Knicks to play Kristaps Porzingis at center as opposed to power forward—except, of course, Porzingis himself, who seems indifferent to the entire thing.
Per ESPN.com’s Tim MacMahon:
Kristaps Porzingis on potentially playing more center: “I am a 4. I’ve been playing 4 my whole NBA career. Moving to the 5, I’m comfortable with it. I feel like a lot of times I have an advantage over a 5 offensively. Sometimes, it’s tough for me defensively against a big 5, but I think as I get stronger I’ll be able to play the 5 more and have even more advantage playing from outside against a 5.”
Strength is definitely an issue for Porzingis when moving to the 5, where he’ll face burlier opponents. He’s already had his fair share of problems defending post-up sets, according to NBA.com, and that will only become a bigger part of his job should he become a full-time center.
But Porzingis’ future in the NBA lies at the 5. The Knicks have made such a transition difficult by inexplicably paying Joakim Noah $72.6 million over the next four years (including this one), but the 7’3″ skyscraper isn’t built to keep pace with today’s playmaking 4s, many of whom are just glorified small forwards.
Getting burn at center allows Porzingis to focus more on being a paint protector and less on defending in space. And that’s a role someone his size should be playing anyway.
It doesn’t hurt that Carmelo Anthony is best suited at power forward nowadays, both on offense and defense. Pairing him with Porzingis in the frontcourt gives the Knicks more offensive versatility and, at this point, is probably their best hope of climbing out of the Eastern Conference doldrums, even if it’s not a perfect, or even good, marriage on the defensive end.
