Sochan Gone, Drummond Alone: The Knicks' Frontcourt Depth Problem Just Got Real

Jeremy Sochan signed with Portland on Saturday, and for the Knicks that's one more name crossed off a list that was already pretty short. His tenure in New York didn't amount to much, but his departure matters less for what he was and more for what he represented — another body, another option. That option is now gone.

The frontcourt situation has been unraveling in stages all summer. Mitchell Robinson left for Boston in early July on a three-year, $47.4 million deal, taking his 8.3 rebounds per game and his 69.6% field-goal shooting with him. The Knicks moved quickly, signing Andre Drummond to a one-year, $3.9 million deal and going after Moussa Cisse with an offer sheet. Dallas matched. So the plan that was supposed to have two or three moving parts now has essentially one: Drummond, and whatever Karl-Anthony Towns can give you in foul trouble and late-game minutes. Towns averaged 11.1 rebounds per game last season, so it's not nothing — but leaning harder on your franchise-extension negotiation to cover a roster hole is not a comfortable position.

The Eastern Conference got harder at the same time the depth got thinner. LeBron James joining Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, and Jaylen Brown in Philadelphia is the kind of development that raises the floor of what a championship repeat requires. The Knicks won 75% of their home games last season and 55% on the road — that gap was manageable when the conference was what it was. It's a more pressing concern now.

My read: the front office is betting that Drummond is enough of a stopgap and that Brunson's wrist heals clean before training camp. Both of those things might be true. But the margin for error that existed when this roster was assembled is smaller than it was in June, and it got a little smaller again on Saturday.