Struggles at the highest level have a way of revealing tough truths. For the New York Knicks, their dose of hard-to-swallow medicine is being administered during the Eastern Conference Finals.
With their title hopes now on the brink after falling into a 2-0 series hole, one harsh reality has become transparently clear: The Knicks cannot build a legitimate championship team around both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Brunson and Towns don't actually complement one another
Adding Towns was considered a borderline no-brainer move. It did not come at a stark asset cost, and the combination of his floor-spacing and ability to punish mismatches would be a boon next to Brunson.
This vision has not gone according to plan. The Knicks offense finished fifth in points scored per possession on the season, but they weren’t actually elite. The process was vanilla, and prone to bogging down.
Brunson has clearly missed having a true rim-runner who could pull defenders with him off screens, and his overall efficiency through both the regular season and playoffs is actually higher when playing without KAT, per PBP Stats. Meanwhile, as Minnesota Timberwolves fans know all too well, Towns doesn’t fire enough threes or punish enough mismatches to be considered a reliable No. 2 option.
Optimizing this dynamic is even harder, if not impossible, considering the defensive limitations. The Pacers have laid this bare during the Eastern Conference Finals. Brunson will fight, but he’s neither tall nor long, making him exploitable. Towns will have his moments, but the engagement and execution waxes and wanes. Too often he is in the wrong spot, conceding too much space, or just entirely lost.
New York’s defense with Brunson and Towns on the floort rated in the 41st percentile during the regular season. It has dropped to the 24th percentile in the playoffs. The duo has now been outscored by 26 points during its time together in the first two games against the Pacers. There is no coming back from that.
The Knicks have only one option...
...and it's trading Towns over the offseason.
Plenty of fans and media members won’t agree. They will claim this is Tom Thibodeau’s fault for shoddy rotations. That is to some extent true. But switching up the starting lineup to paper over the Brunson-Towns problem isn’t a permanent solution, and it only creates new issues.
Josh Hart has become a pariah for this discussion. But replacing him with Mitchell Robinson compromises the Knicks’ ability to guard a team like the Pacers on the perimeter. You need maximum mobility there. Yanking Hart for Deuce McBride is an option, but the Knicks would be giving up size and playmaking.
Moving KAT to the bench would be a bold and interesting move. Again, though, it’s temporary. You can’t demote your highest paid player to the second unit forever.
Trading Towns this offseason is the only plausible solution. Brunson isn’t going anywhere—nor should he. The Knicks also don’t have the assets to rework the roster around their two ill-fitting stars. They don’t have a single outright first-round pick flip, and they would need to move some combination of Hart, Anunoby, Bridges and Robinson to acquire anyone meaningful.
For what the Knicks are paying Towns, they either need a better player (Giannis Antetokounmpo anyone?), or they need to spread out the 35(ish) percent of the salary cap he’s making among two or three rotation players, at least one of whom must be another center capable of bringing more defense in the playoffs.
Can New York figure out a way to make either scenario a reality over the offseason? That remains to be seen. But trying needs to be the summer’s top priority. The Knicks’ future title hopes depend on it.