Now in his second season with the New York Knicks, Karl-Anthony Towns finds himself boasting his lowest shooting percentage since entering the association in 2015 at 45.0 percent.
Though he may have initially established himself as a perennial All-NBA player thanks to his shooting successes, particularly from long range, where he cashes them home at a 39.8 percent clip for his career, for him to now become a winner at the highest level, perhaps it's time for him to finally use his elite 7-foot, 248-pound size to his advantage and adopt more of an interior game.
Knicks have more success when Karl-Anthony Towns attacks the paint
No, this is not a suggestion that he should shy away from spacing out toward beyond the arc.
However, with a career-low 33.7 percent success rate through 16 games played so far in 2025-26, perhaps getting into some sort of groove inside, and then stretching to the arc thereafter, should be the more coveted approach to his offensive attack moving forward.
Simply put, the proof is in the pudding: both Towns and the Knicks have had far more success when he's active in the paint scoring department compared to when he's not.
Through 10 wins this year, the five-time All-Star finds himself leading the way for New York with an average of 11.2 paint points per game. Meanwhile, in their six losses so far, Towns has seen his production regress to just 8.7 paint points per game, trailing the 6-foot-2 Jalen Brunson by over five points (14.0).
Interestingly enough, it appears that this uptick in interior presence has had a direct correlation with an improvement in his long-range shooting stroke, as he's shooting a whopping 40.7 percent from deep in wins and an absolutely abysmal 21.2 percent in losses.
Far too often have Knicks fans seen Towns settle for chucking up shots from distance while trying to get himself out of an offensive slump.
To avoid such antics, coach Mike Brown needs to start drawing up more plays that involve getting the big man down into the paint or closer to the rack to help him find his shooting rhythm.
If nothing else, putting more of an emphasis on physicality down low could ultimately help him get to the charity stripe on a more frequent basis, an area where he's shooting a career-best 88.4 percent from.
Making such a simple yet vital change to his offensive approach should keep defenses on their toes when squaring off against New York, which, in turn, should only help Towns' game as a whole.