The New York Knicks did not trade for Karl-Anthony Towns just to fall short in May. KAT gave Knicks fans plenty to love on offense last season. He is a bucket-getter, a stretch big who dunks, shoots threes, and commands attention inside.
The idea heading into last season of pairing one of the league’s most versatile big men with an All-NBA point guard in Jalen Brunson, and making a real run at a title was exciting, to say the least. But there was an issue with that idea, because as good as KAT is on offense, his playoff resume is filled with defensive slip-ups, early foul trouble, and moments where teams have flat-out hunted him.
It happened in the 2025 postseason run
When Brunson and Towns shared the court, the Knicks struggled to get stops. Brunson, undersized but competitive, will always be a target. That means Towns has to be the one making up for it. And the truth is, he proved he can’t do that consistently. His defensive limitations became glaring, and now the Knicks must find creative answers before May and June arrive again.
What is interesting is that the Knicks may already have the formula to fix this. In the final few games of the 2025 postseason, fans got a brief but promising glimpse of what a Towns-Mitchell Robinson frontcourt could look like. With Robinson back from injury, the Knicks went with a double-big look, and it started to work. Towns didn’t have to guard the rim every possession, and Robinson cleaned up the paint. Offensively, KAT still stretched the floor. It was not perfect, but it showed real potential.
The problem? Tom Thibodeau did not try it early or often enough
Thibs stuck to tight rotations, leaned on his starters heavily, and failed to use the team’s depth creatively. That approach may have cost them. Luckily for New York now, Mike Brown has been elected as the new man in charge and he should be able to bring in a much different approach.
Brown inherits a roster with legit upside. Now’s the time to test things. Try Towns at the four. Use creative coverages. Give your depth real minutes. Build a rotation where Towns can thrive defensively, not just survive.
Towns is no stranger to playing in the four spot
In Minnesota, Towns played the four alongside Rudy Gobert and helped the Timberwolves lead the league in defense. The Knicks have a version of that setup and a coach in Brown who has shown he is not afraid to experiment. If they can crack the KAT code, the Knicks won’t just be dangerous, they will be complete. And in an Eastern Conference searching for its next king, that could be the edge New York has been waiting over 50 years for.