Although preseason basketball must be consumed with a kilotonne of salt, the New York Knicks have already provided plenty of glimpses into how their offense will run. Karl-Anthony Towns’ usage is among the most meaningful of those peeks, and if his performance against the Philadelphia 76ers is any indication, he will be earning more looks at the rim—and at the foul line.
Through 17 minutes of action, Karl-Anthony Towns racked up 11 points on just four shot attempts. Both of his made baskets came inside the restricted area, and he exited the game having taken eight three throws, a truly absurd number knowing he didn’t see the court in the second half.
While the 29-year-old’s performance wasn’t all smooth sailing from the opening tip, it mutated into a borderline masterpiece by the time he walked off the floor. Best of all, everything he did, everything he will be doing, feels totally replicable.
The Knicks’ offense is built to get KAT more close-range looks
Head coach Mike Brown has made a fuss about using Towns as more of a playmaking hub. This could mean any number of things, nodding to an increased number of post-ups, grab-and-go possessions, hand-off situations, even inverted pick-and-rolls.
Generally speaking, it is a reference to getting him more touches at large. And the hand-offs, in particular, are going to be especially valuable.
Treating him as the hub in those situations shouldn’t just drum up his assist totals. They will give him a chance to turn corners against tilted defenses, and attack the basket. Putting the ball in Towns’ hands will also open up the floor by virtue of defenses keying in on Jalen Brunson as a spacer, a role for which he has the gravity to thrive.
We are already seeing a more varied offensive approach yield dividends. Philly’s frontcourt wasn’t at full strength and ill-suited to stop Towns, but that’s sort of the point. Getting him in attack mode resulted in a bunch of shooting fouls.
Towns attempted what would be the equivalent of 16.8 free throws per 36 minutes. That ratio isn’t going to hold, because, well, it just can’t. But he has never averaged even seven free-throw attempts per 36 minutes, and is at just 5.6 for his career. That number, it seems, is about to go up. The same can goes for his volume at the rim, if he’s going to be attacking downhill even more often.
New York needs to help Towns strike a balance
All of this is intriguing, and capable of rendering the Knicks offense Teflon. It is far from perfect.
New York still needs to figure out how to coax real three-point volume out of Towns. He fired up just one triple against the Sixers, and is coming off a season in which his three-point attempts per 36 minutes were the lowest they’ve been since 2017-18.
So much of KAT’s appeal is rooted in his generational outside touch. The Knicks cannot veer too far away from that, particularly when he’s going to be logging time as a de facto 4.
Still, preseason is about flashes and flickers. And from what we’ve seen so far, Towns has the chance to be more dynamic on offense than ever before.