Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were not exactly a picture-perfect pairing by the end of their first season together. At least one ESPN analyst expects that to change under New York Knicks head coach Mike Brown. In fact, they believe that JB and KAT combine to form the...second-best star duo in the entire NBA.
During a recent segment on ESPN Today, Andscape's David Dennis Jr. gave his thoughts on where New York's tandem ranks among the league's top star pairings, at around the 9:24 mark:
"I think the best duo in the East, and the second-best duo in the league, is actually Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns for what they've done. We saw last season, offensively, they were unstoppable for large portions in that season. Especially when they got that pick-and-roll going [that] they didn't utilize enough. Now, you bring Mike Brown into that organization—a guy who is going to move the ball around, who's going to go to a little bit more of the pick-and-roll, a little bit more of those hand-offs. We already saw, at their height, those guys had those five 20-point games each in the one [playoff ] series. We hadn't seen that since Shaq and Kobe. I think they're going to level up offensively this year, and be the second-best duo in the league, and the best duo in the Eastern Conference."
Dennis hits on a lot of things that will have Knicks fans nodding their heads. The point about Towns and Brunson needing to run more two-man actions is particularly salient, and arguably the single most important problem Brown must solve as he implements his system.
The overall sentiment here, though, is tantalizing. Because if the KAT-JB dyad ends up being the NBA’s second-best tandem, it implies their partnership will improve, and that New York will be poised for an ultra-deep playoff run.
Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns might actually be the NBA’s second-best duo
Granted, Brunson and Towns cannot receive a top-two crown without resistance.
The panel on NBA Today was working off the assumption that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder are currently the Association’s best one-two punch. That by itself will be considered debatable, depending on how you feel about J-Dub.
Still, if we operate off that same preconception, plenty of other options emerge for the No. 2 spot. LeBron James and Luka Doncic certainly belong in that conversation. Ditto for Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray must absolutely be mentioned. A healthy Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis might have a chance. The same goes for Victor Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox.
You will notice, however, nobody is running away with this honor. Mitchell and Mobley feel like the closest to being a top-two lock—particularly with the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown partnership on ice for the next year—and their upside on offense may not be nearly as high as the Brunson-Towns dynamic if the Knicks get those two more in sync next season.
Push-back will come in the form of “What about defense?!” That is…fair. Brunson tries, but there’s no overcoming his lack of size. The Knicks, meanwhile, seem more committed to playing double-big lineups next year to paper over KAT’s issues.
Yet, while the stance conveyed on ESPN Today is clearly debatable, it’s far from outlandish. When you go through the field, Brunson and Towns absolutely have a chance to entrench themselves as one of the Association’s top-two duos.