New York Knicks

Should Kristaps Porzingis be playing center more often?

Published Dec. 22, 2015 1:37 p.m. ET

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Coach Derek Fisher stuck with Robin Lopez at center down the stretch of Monday's loss to the Magic. That left Kristaps Porzingis on the bench, much to the dismay of just about every fan in the building.

Knicks fans love Porzingis, and they want to see the star rookie in the game when they come to the Garden. But should Kristaps be playing mostly 4? Or is he actually as deserving as they say of moving over and playing the 5 in scenarios like the one the Knicks closed with Monday evening?

ESPN's Ian Begley has some thoughts:

Per Basketball-Reference, Porzingis has played about a quarter of his minutes this season at the center spot, so it's not like he's never there. It does appear his future comes in playing the 5, especially if the Knicks hold onto Carmelo Anthony, who may have to move over to the 4 as he advances in age, in the long term. It couldn't kill them to get him some work there now, though he is still mighty skinny to be defending some of these 5s.

The Knicks’ numbers with the rookie manning the middle are encouraging.

New York’s two most-used lineups with Porzingis at center have outscored opponents by 16 points in the 48 minutes those lineups have been used. That’s a strong number when you consider that, on the season, the two lineups most often used with Lopez at center are being outscored by 1.8 points per 48 minutes.

Carmelo Anthony, for one, likes what he’s seen from Porzingis at center so far.

“He’s a very versatile player out there. It’s just a matter of coach figuring it out,” Anthony said. “I don't think it’s anything [Porzingis is] not doing. It’s just the course of the game, how the game plays and [who] the coach feels is playing well at that point in time.”