The New York Knicks can, and have, changed the head coach. They can, and have, changed the types of lineups they field. They can, and have, overhauled a good chunk of their offensive approach. They cannot, however, change Karl-Anthony Towns, a human roller coaster who is, clearly, always going to be that same human roller coaster.
New York’s early performance is littered with a bunch of red flags. Towns’ play is easily the biggest—unless, for some reason, you were counting on Mitchell Robinson to actually be healthy.
The Knicks’ All-Star center is shooting 36.4 percent on twos (12-of-33), and 33.3 percent on threes (7-of-21). Even by his own standards, his live-dribble passing has been virtually nonexistent. He has yet to register an assist out of a drive, and when he does defer, it always feels like a last resort.
Towns’ tunnel vision reached new degrees of problematic during New York’s Tuesday night loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. He did little to survey his surroundings whether attacking down low, or setting up in the post. It’s a wonder he only had three turnovers, and that two of them were offensive fouls, when you consider the traffic into which he willingly played.
That Towns’ struggles are coming on the heels of him admitting he doesn’t understand his role in the offense is nothing if not unnerving. To his credit, he did take responsibility for how he played against the Bucks:
KAT says the Knicks lost tonight because of him, says he tried to do too much in the 3rd quarter where he shot 1-of-9 from the field, and says he wants to take accountability for his play because accountability is big in the locker room
— Kristian Winfield (@Krisplashed) October 29, 2025
At the same time, we have to ask: Does this acknowledgement actually matter, or is he simply incapable of change?
Karl-Anthony Towns will be better, but…
No discussion about Towns’ performance to date can gloss over that he’s apparently trying to play through a Grade 2 quad strain. This is serious stuff. It’s the kind of injury, in fact, he shouldn’t attempt to tough out.
Other factors contribute to his struggles as well. The Josh Hart of it all continues to be an issue. Playing those two together deemphasizes Towns because teams so willingly throw smalls on him. That usually prompts New York to shift its offensive approach to include fewer KAT screens and, thus, fewer advantage situations for him.
Certain warts can also be written off as blips. Three-point shooting is among the aberrations. After swishing almost 47 percent of his wide-open treys last year, Towns has been one of the Knicks’ worst marksmen on unguarded triples this season. That won’t hold.
Yet, we can’t overlook Towns’ overall returns just because it’s convenient. He’s injured, but he’s still playing. Hart can be a limiting factor on offense, but Towns’ size and touch from long range is supposed to help neutralize potentially awkward fits. Robinson has yet to make his regular-season debut, but KAT is a center himself. The Knicks are implementing brand-new offensive principles, but Towns isn’t the only one attempting to master them.
Excusing what we’ve seen so far ultimately does a disservice to Towns. He is New York’s highest-paid player, and just earned All-NBA honors last season. Suggesting the Knicks tinker with their lineups and rotations and touch types doesn’t amount to star optimization; it’s an admission that Towns himself is a limiting factor.
The Knicks could hold out hope this changes. That his three-point volume is more consistent. That he makes better decisions in traffic. That he locks in more regularly on defense. That he reads the room, and understands how to punish mismatches rather than play into them.
Or, they could accept the decade’s worth of evidence to the contrary, and come to grips with a reality as potentially crushing as it is unbending: that KAT is, and will remain, a generational talent who doesn’t always play like it.