Examining how Knicks could be changed in Jalen Brunson’s absence

It took just 11 games for the biggest hole on the Knicks’ roster to come to the forefront.

Jalen Brunson’s injury — he suffered a Grade 1 right ankle sprain during a 124-107 loss to the Magic on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden — puts the team’s backup point guard weakness under the spotlight.

The Knicks had planned on Malcolm Brogdon filling that void, but he suddenly retired before the season started.

That left Tyler Kolek as the only true point guard on the bench, and he quickly fell out of coach Mike Brown’s rotation this year before Brunson’s injury.

He averaged 12 minutes per game across the first four games, but that decreased to just 3.2 minutes per game the last six games he appeared in.

He did not see any action at all in a win over the Grizzlies on Tuesday.

The Knicks will have a different looks while Jalen Brunson is out with a Grade 1 right ankle sprain. Jason Szenes / New York Post

Brunson’s injury opens the door for Kolek to re-enter the rotation, but Brown has a few different options in how to approach this period with Brunson sidelined.

Let’s take a look at those options and what this injury also means for the rest of the roster:

Change to the starting lineup

This can go a few different ways.

It does not seem likely Brown will just thrust Kolek into a starting role.

That leaves Miles McBride as the most natural fit.

Miles McBride likely will be inserted into the starting lineup while Jalen Brunson is out. Getty Images

Though more of a combo guard, McBride is capable of taking over the bulk of the ball-handling duties.

Brown has wanted to keep Josh Hart with the second unit this year, but when Brunson has been on the bench, Hart, along with McBride — and not Kolek — usually took over most of the ball-handling responsibilities.

Hart is more than capable of bringing the ball up the floor at times and certainly has experience as a starter.

---

• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

---

Brown already was getting the ball out of Brunson’s hands more and more, resulting in more ball handling for Mikal Bridges.

If Brown is comfortable with Bridges taking on that role even more, he could insert Landry Shamet, who already has started three games this year, into the starting lineup at shooting guard.

Shamet is not someone who is a great ball handler, so this would require a lot of trust in Bridges in that department.

Changes in roles

When Brunson was sidelined for 15 games last year with a sprain to the same right ankle, it resulted in more shots for OG Anunoby and Bridges.

Anunoby in particular became much more aggressive and proactive in looking to score as a slasher.

This year in Brown’s system, though, Anunoby and Bridges have become much more reliant on catch-and-shoot opportunities and are two of the most effective with those types of shots in the league.

As a result, they’ve become less intent on driving to the rim or pulling up in the midrange.

More than 47 percent of Anunoby’s field-goal attempts are catch-and-shoot this year, up from 37.2 percent last year.

More than 44 percent of Bridges’ field-goal attempts this year are catch-and-shoot, up from 38 percent last year.

Tyler Kolek, who has seen his playing time decrease recently, could potentially get more playing time during Jalen Brunson’s absence. NBAE via Getty Images

That will probably change without Brunson, who won’t be there to draw double-teams or make the defense collapse and set up their catch-and-shoot opportunities.

Expect both to become more aggressive as slashers rather than spot-up shooters.

Trickle-down effect

Whomever Brown decides to move into the starting lineup, it will take a valuable bench player away from that unit.

That will likely result in even more shots for Jordan Clarkson and makes it even more important he can provide a consistent scoring punch.

It also raises the urgency for Brown to get Guerschon Yabusele going.

Their biggest signing this past offseason, he has not yet found his footing.

McBride, Shamet and Hart can all average between eight and nine points per game. Can, say, Yabusele and Kolek fill that scoring void when one of the three becomes a starter?

Defensive outlook

Brunson tries hard and is willing to put his body on the line to take charges, but he is a below-average defender who often gets hunted on that end of the court.

Hart and McBride, however, are strong defenders.

If one of them enters the starting lineup or if they see more action in general, it provides the Knicks an opportunity to hunker down on that end.

As a team, they’ve struggled guarding 3-pointers in particular — Hart and McBride are two of their better defenders in that area.