As of: 2026-07-18 · Team: NYK · Coach: Mike Brown · Up: 2026-27 NBA fantasy team index
Verified roster and depth chart
The live Knicks roster, RealGM roster composition, and transaction history reconcile to 13 standard-contract players as of July 18. Tyler Nickel and Jack Kayil are second-round draft rights who played Summer League but have no recorded NBA contract; they are tracked as unsigned development branches rather than counted among the 13.
| Position | Starter | Second unit | Development / emergency |
|---|---|---|---|
| PG | Jalen Brunson | Miles McBride, Jose Alvarado | Tyler Kolek, Jack Kayil (unsigned rights) |
| SG | Mikal Bridges | Landry Shamet | Jordan Clarkson, Miles McBride |
| SF | OG Anunoby | Mohamed Diawara | Pacôme Dadiet, Tyler Nickel (unsigned rights) |
| PF | Josh Hart | OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns | Mohamed Diawara |
| C | Karl-Anthony Towns | Andre Drummond | small-ball Anunoby / Diawara |
The principal role question is not the starting five—it is the ninth through 13th spots. New York has abundant reserve guards, only one conventional reserve center, and no contracted third center. RotoWire's July 18 depth chart is useful for ordering guards, but its inclusion of Kayil does not itself establish contract status.
Open roster and two-way slots
The 13 standard contracts leave two standard spots and all three two-way slots vacant. All three of New York's 2025-26 two-way players are now free agents: Trey Jemison III, Dillon Jones, and Kevin McCullar Jr., whose qualifying offer New York declined (Hoops Rumors qualifying-offer recap, NBA options and qualifying offers).
That matters because it is where the third center actually comes from. Jemison, a 6-10, 270-pound center who is two-way eligible for one more year, is the reported internal favorite for the third-big role and would arguably be the roster's best rim protector (Daily Knicks); Jonas Valanciunas and Nick Richards are the external names in circulation. Jones is auditioning at Summer League for another two-way. The second-apron constraint that shaped the Shamet and Robinson outcomes also constrains this: the realistic Drummond handcuff is a two-way big, most plausibly Jemison, not a mid-season veteran signing. None of these players is on the roster at this snapshot and none is projected minutes below.
Exact 240-minute allocation
This is a healthy, neutral active-night allocation for a competitive regulation game. It sums to 240 minutes; deep-reserve appearances happen mostly when someone ahead of them rests, is hurt, or the score is decided.
| Player | Role | Active-night min | Proj. GP | Proj. MPG | FG% | FT% | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | Points | Dynasty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jalen Brunson | primary creator | 34 | 70 | 34.0 | .472 | .845 | 2.6 | 25.4 | 3.2 | 6.8 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 2.4 | A- | 7.3/10 |
| Mikal Bridges | durable two-way wing | 32 | 80 | 32.0 | .490 | .825 | 1.8 | 14.3 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 1.0 | B | 6.1/10 |
| OG Anunoby | stocks-and-threes wing | 33 | 64 | 33.0 | .482 | .825 | 2.3 | 16.6 | 5.2 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 1.7 | B- | 6.7/10 |
| Josh Hart | connector / rebounder | 26 | 68 | 26.0 | .505 | .730 | 1.2 | 10.4 | 6.6 | 4.1 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 1.6 | B- | 5.7/10 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | starting center / co-star | 31 | 68 | 31.0 | .510 | .850 | 1.8 | 20.5 | 11.5 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.4 | A | 7.8/10 |
| Miles McBride | first guard reserve | 23 | 64 | 23.0 | .425 | .800 | 2.3 | 10.2 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.7 | C | 5.8/10 |
| Landry Shamet | reserve shooter / five-out spacer | 20 | 61 | 20.0 | .440 | .760 | 1.9 | 8.2 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.6 | C- | 3.4/10 |
| Andre Drummond | reserve center | 17 | 62 | 17.0 | .535 | .620 | 0.0 | 5.8 | 7.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.9 | C- | 2.0/10 |
| Jose Alvarado | pressure-defense point guard | 14 | 68 | 14.0 | .415 | .775 | 1.0 | 5.1 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.8 | D+ | 4.2/10 |
| Mohamed Diawara | reserve forward | 6 | 52 | 10.0 | .440 | .720 | 0.7 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | D | 5.6/10 |
| Jordan Clarkson | scoring insurance | 4 | 48 | 10.0 | .445 | .825 | 0.6 | 4.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | D | 1.5/10 |
| Tyler Kolek | contingent organizer | 0 | 40 | 9.0 | .435 | .720 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 2.0 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | D- | 4.8/10 |
| Pacôme Dadiet | contingent wing | 0 | 28 | 8.0 | .420 | .720 | 0.4 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | E | 5.0/10 |
| Tyler Nickel | unsigned rookie rights | 0 | 24 | 8.0 | .430 | .800 | 0.7 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.3 | E | 4.9/10 |
| Jack Kayil | unsigned rookie rights | 0 | 18 | 7.0 | .410 | .780 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 | E | 5.4/10 |
| Total | 240 |
Projected MPG is per appearance. It can exceed the base active-night allocation for fringe players because their appearances disproportionately occur when the rotation is already missing someone. Nickel and Kayil's GP/MPG lines are conditional on signing NBA or two-way contracts; they are not predictions that either currently occupies a roster slot.
The nine-category columns are this desk's July 18 medians, built from 2025-26 performance and adjusted for minutes, age, health, roster changes, and regression. Points grades are cross-platform tiers, not exact ranks, because ESPN, Yahoo, Sleeper, and custom formulas weight statistics differently.
Correction 2026-07-18: Shamet raised from 14 to 20 active-night minutes and moved ahead of Drummond and Alvarado in the rotation order. The prior figure was indefensible against his own 2025-26 baseline of 23.0 MPG over 51 games (9.3 PTS, 2.0 3PM, .392 3P%) and against the contract logic — ESPN's offseason grades grade the four-year, $24M deal B+ and state that its length-over-salary structure, built to keep New York under the second apron, is likely why Mitchell Robinson left for Boston on 3yr/$47.4M. The specific mechanism is a five-out group with Shamet in Hart's place that outscored opponents by 54 points in 34 playoff minutes, so the six minutes come mainly from Hart (28 to 26), with one each from Bridges (33 to 32), Clarkson (5 to 4), and two from Alvarado (16 to 14). ESPN still projects Shamet as a sixth man rather than a starter, so Bridges' starting role is unchanged. Shamet's FT% was also cut from .790 to .760: he shot .711 in 2025-26 and the prior figure assumed a full snap-back to career norms without saying so.
2025-26 team baseline
New York went 53-29, finished with a 119.8 offensive rating, 113.3 defensive rating, +6.5 net rating, and a slow 96.8 pace before winning the championship (Basketball-Reference). The NBA title review describes a 16-3 playoff run and the stable Brunson-Hart-Bridges-Anunoby-Towns starting group.
That creates a favorable fantasy combination: elite players with secure roles, but a slow environment and a coach who was hired in part to spread workload away from the starters. The model therefore trims raw minutes without materially cutting Brunson's or Towns' per-minute usage.
Current ranking evidence
These boards measure different formats and should not be averaged as if they were identical forecasts.
| Player | Barutha redraft, Jul. 14 | ESPN H2H points, Apr. 14 | Hashtag dynasty, Jul. 2 | Hashtag keeper crowd, Jul. 18 | Dynatyze, Jul. 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 16 | 17 | 27 | 36 | 36th player listed |
| Jalen Brunson | 23 | 37 | 37 | 38 | 29th player listed |
| OG Anunoby | 64 | 89 | 66 | 54 | 62nd player listed |
| Mikal Bridges | 89 | 19 | 84 | 112 | outside visible top 68 |
| Josh Hart | outside top 100 | 95 | 129 | 118 | outside visible top 68 |
Sources: Alex Barutha's deliberately fast rough-draft top 100 on X, ESPN's early points board, Hashtag's analyst dynasty rankings, its crowdsourced keeper board, and Dynatyze. ESPN's No. 19 on Bridges is an important points-format/durability signal, not evidence that his 14-15 point scoring role suddenly became early-round nine-category production.
An April community very-early ADP exercise placed Towns around the second round and debated Anunoby over Brunson in category builds. It is useful sentiment evidence only; it predates surgery and much of free agency.
Fantasy hierarchy
- Nine-category: Towns is the best balanced Knick and a late-first/second-round target when healthy. Brunson follows in the second-to-fourth-round band because elite points, assists, FT volume, threes, and low guard turnovers coexist with weak stocks. Anunoby's stocks make him the preferred middle-round category wing; Bridges and Hart are durable multi-category targets after the stars.
- Points: Towns and Brunson are the anchors. Bridges' durability and defensive events can jump sharply in scoring systems such as ESPN's; Hart also gains where double-doubles, rebounds, and assists are rewarded. Anunoby is less dominant when percentage impact and low turnovers disappear.
- Dynasty: Towns and Brunson remain win-now stars, but both are 30 during the season. Anunoby and Bridges hold stable multi-year roles; Diawara, Dadiet, Nickel, and Kayil are the youth bets, all with much lower present redraft probability.
- Specialists: Drummond is an injury-away rebounds/FG% streamer who requires an FT% plan. McBride and Shamet are threes streamers. Alvarado is a steals-and-assists streamer. No deep reserve is a standard-league draft at this snapshot.
Transactions and role battles
- New York retained Alvarado on a reported three-year deal (NBA.com, July 6), Shamet for four years (NBA.com, July 6), and Clarkson for one year (NBA offseason tracker, updated July 9). Diawara also agreed to a multi-year contract, while Drummond signed for one year to replace the departed Robinson (NBA.com, July 6).
- Robinson, Ariel Hukporti, Jeremy Sochan, Trey Jemison III, Dillon Jones, and Kevin McCullar Jr. are not on the current 13-man standard roster. Old depth charts, keeper boards, and title-era game notes can therefore be stale. Jemison, Jones, and McCullar are unsigned free agents rather than departed to other rosters, and all three two-way slots remain open; see the open-slot subsection above.
- McBride is the favorite to lead the guard bench, but Alvarado, Shamet, and Clarkson make the nightly distribution fluid. The reserve-forward job is contested rather than settled: Diawara has the size and the firmer contract (four years, $11.2M against Dadiet's rookie scale with team options), but he shot 7.1% from the field over two Las Vegas games and Dadiet is a live alternative. Correction 2026-07-18: previously stated as Diawara having "the clearest path," which overweighted structure against the most recent observable data (SI).
- The backup-center role is Drummond's by default. Any injury to Towns or Drummond would force a signing, small-ball, or a trade rather than reveal a hidden proven third center — and under the second apron, the cheapest of those is a two-way, with Jemison the reported candidate. Update 2026-07-19: New York's attempt to add cheap center depth failed — its two-year minimum offer sheet for Dallas restricted free agent Moussa Cisse was matched by the Mavericks late on July 18 (Shams Charania, ESPN), so the third-center hole described above persists. HoopsRumors, 2026-07-18
- New York acquired the rights to Nickel (selected 47th by Phoenix) and Kayil (selected 39th by Houston) in the 2026 draft. Their official Summer League roster establishes participation, not a standard or two-way contract.
Health and availability
- Brunson underwent surgery on his left wrist July 7 and was expected to resume basketball activities later in the summer (NBA/AP). The base case assumes he is ready near camp, but shooting efficiency and GP confidence remain medium until contact work is confirmed.
- McBride required core-muscle surgery during 2025-26 and returned for the playoffs. The official February 23 injury report establishes the procedure; his postseason return reduces but does not erase recurrence/ramp uncertainty.
- Diawara missed the final three Las Vegas games with a left ring finger issue; severity was still unknown July 18 (official Knicks player news). That is a low-minute rotation uncertainty, not evidence of a long-term diagnosis. The two games he did play were poor (3.5 PPG on 7.1% shooting), which is a role question rather than a health one.
- Towns, Anunoby, Hart, and Shamet all had 2025-26 absences or management flags, but none had an active long-term restriction identified in the July 18 official snapshot. Their GP estimates still include ordinary durability regression.
Team outcome range
The internal 2026-27 NBA team outcomes model projects 54.7 wins, a 48-61 central range, 99.5% playoff probability, and mean seed near 2.3. External title markets also treat New York as a top-tier contender: bet365 listed +800 on July 10, while VegasInsider's July 16 board showed +900.
- Median: 54-56 wins, top-three East seed, slow pace, elite half-court offense, and another deep run.
- Ceiling: 60-62 wins and a repeat if Brunson's wrist is clean, Towns/Anunoby stay available, and the cheaper bench approximates the title rotation.
- Floor: 46-49 wins if the wrist lingers, the thin center room is exposed, or defending-champion workload produces simultaneous absences. This still projects as a playoff team.
Projection swing map
| Event | Winners | Losers |
|---|---|---|
| Brunson misses time or has a slow wrist ramp | McBride, Alvarado, Hart assists | Brunson totals; team offense |
| Towns misses time | Drummond rebounds, Hart/Anunoby frontcourt stats | Towns; team spacing |
| Brown consistently uses ten or 11 players | Diawara, Clarkson, Kolek | Hart/McBride/Shamet minutes |
| Drummond cannot hold playoff-quality center minutes | small-ball Anunoby/Diawara; possible acquisition | Drummond role security |
| Nickel or Kayil earns a two-way contract | the signed rookie's dynasty liquidity | Dadiet/Kolek development reps |
Confidence by component
| Component | Confidence | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Starting roles | High | all five title starters remain under contract |
| Starter per-minute rates | Medium-high | stable personnel, but Brown can redistribute touches and minutes |
| Bench minutes | Low-medium | four reserve guards compete and camp has not begun |
| Games played | Medium | Brunson's new wrist procedure plus ordinary veteran health variance |
| Rookie roles | Low | neither Nickel nor Kayil had a recorded NBA contract at cutoff |
| Team wins | Medium-high | elite returning core, but title defense and center depth widen tails |
Sources checked
- Knicks roster, RealGM roster composition, and transactions, accessed July 18, 2026.
- NBA Knicks title review and Basketball-Reference 2025-26 team page.
- Hashtag analyst dynasty, updated July 2; crowd keeper, updated July 18; Dynatyze, accessed July 18.
- Barutha top 100 on X, July 14; ESPN points rankings, April 14.
- RotoWire depth chart, updated July 18; used as secondary role evidence.
Open questions
- Is Brunson fully cleared for unrestricted contact and shooting work before camp?
- Does Brown settle on a nine-man playoff-style rotation or keep 10-11 players involved during the regular season?
- Can Drummond defend enough to hold every backup-center minute, and who supplies emergency center depth?
- Do Nickel and Kayil sign NBA, two-way, Exhibit 10, or overseas contracts?
- Does McBride regain full pre-surgery mobility and 2025-26 shooting efficiency?