New York Knicks: Jeff Hornacek Open to Using Kristaps Porzingis at Center

The New York Knicks are really struggling lately, and head coach Jeff Hornacek is scrambling for answers.

It has been a disappointing stretch of basketball for the New York Knicks recently. Despite a decent start to the season, the Knicks have fallen on some hard times lately. Their effort has been questioned, and they have the cloud of whether or not Carmelo Anthony will be traded looming over their heads.

Hopefully, Anthony and Phil Jackson are able to sort out what they want to do about his future with the Knicks. However, there are still games that need to be played. After a close loss to the Atlanta Hawks, Hornacek hinted that Kristaps Porzingis might be playing some more center when he returns from his achillies injury.

Here’s what Hornacek said to Ian Begley of ESPN.com:

"“We’ve got to look at everything. … In the long run, we’ve got to look at hey, when KP comes back, what, will it change everything all together and what it will do? Sometimes it’s a chance you have to take, but we continue to look over that. We just need to mix it up maybe a little more.”"

The talk about Porzingis moving to center has been something that many have speculated since he was drafted. With Porzingis’ size, he is certainly capable of playing center. The concern has been about whether or not he has enough weight to withstand some extra bruising in the paint.

On the offensive end, having Porzingis playing center would be excellent. The floor spacing for the Knicks would be exceptional. This would allow Derrick Rose to be able to drive to the paint without a rim protector near. Also, Carmelo Anthony would be able to play more power forward which has been good for him offensively.

The real concern would be on the defense end. We would have to see how Porzingis would be able to handle powerful, back to the basket type centers. So far, Porzingis has shown that he can be an excellent rim protector, but the concern of playing more minutes at center if he isn’t quite strong enough yet could affect his health, and on offense.

Next: Who are the 30 greatest Knicks of all-time?

More minutes for Porzingis at center also means that Joakim Noah could become a bench player. Depending on how Hornacek would make his lineups, Noah would almost certainly be utilized less. Considering he was a big offseason signing for the Knicks, that would surely be a big disappointment.

It will be interesting to see what Hornacek decides to do with the lineups. There has been a lot of shuffling lately, and Porzingis playing center might be something we begin to see.