Knicks May Play Carmelo Anthony, Andrea Bargnani and Tyson Chandler Together

The New York Knicks will still shoot a ton of threes this season, but according to head coach Mike Woodson, New York could start trotting out considerably bigger lineups. Carmelo Anthony, Tyson Chandler and Andrea Bargnani may find themselves on the floor together. Per Newsday: “The Knicks had their most successful year in more than a decade last season by playing small, but Mike Woodson is leaning toward going big this season. Andrea Bargnani has been working mostly with the starting unit, playing alongside Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler up front. The 7-foot Bargnani gives the Knicks a different dynamic because of his shooting ability. He can draw defenders and open things up for his teammates. Bargnani also could get more open looks than he did with Toronto by playing with Anthony. ‘It’s looking good, but I don’t know who’s going to start yet,’ Woodson said after practice Sunday. ‘But I like the makeup of Andrea and Melo on the floor at the same time with Tyson. In the scrimmage, we worked that combination. It wasn’t bad.’ The Knicks won 54 games last season, and on most nights, they started two point guards and Anthony at power forward. Woodson said he’s planning to go with a bigger shooting guard next to Raymond Felton this season. Iman Shumpert is the leading candidate. Woodson also said that if he thinks it’s the way to go, he again will start Felton and Pablo Prigioni. The preseason starts this week, so Woodson said he will get a better idea of what his lineup will be. But he doesn’t plan to use his regulars that much until the last preseason game or two. It makes sense to start Bargnani to give Anthony another scorer on the floor with him. Bargnani averaged at least 17 points three different seasons in his career. It also allows Anthony to move back to his more natural small forward position. Anthony excelled last year at power forward, leading the NBA in scoring at 28.7 points per game, but he also took a physical beating on both ends of the court against some of the bigger forwards. Anthony would welcome a return to his natural position, and he acknowledged he will be playing with Bargnani a lot.”