Karl-Anthony Towns' first season in New York was a glowing success by most accounts. On an individual level, he was selected to an All-NBA team. On a team level, the Knicks made their first Eastern Conference appearance in 25 years. The largest knock on Towns' season, outside of some defensive flaws that should have been expected, was 3-point shooting combined with synergy issues with Jalen Brunson. The Knicks' new forward, Guerschon Yabusele, should help with both of those things.
If we are going to criticize Towns' issues, we first need to contextualize them. Before we even do that, let's note that he shot 42 percent from three. It wasn't that Towns was a bad shooter last season, he was actually a great one. The 3-point shooting "issue" was a lack of shooting out of a two-man game with Brunson.
Now the contextualization. When Towns played center last season, he spent 1,799 minutes next to Josh Hart and 407 minutes next to Precious Achiuwa, according to pbpstats.com. That is some incredibly inopportune spacing for a shooting center. Enter Yabusele.
Towns Pick-and-Pop game struggled
I have discussed the mystery of the Towns and Brunson two-man game before. What started as a dominant pick-and-roll duo slowly dissipated throughout the season and never returned in the playoffs.
From November through January, Brunson and Towns combined on 612 picks, averaging 1.04 points per direct pick. From February through April, however, they teamed up on only 153 picks, generating just 0.89 points per direct. It was a concerning drop-off. Some of it likely can be attributed to teams shifting to guarding Towns with a wing, some to spacing issues, and some to the players and the coach.
On the entire season, Towns took only 49 3-pointers out of pick-and-pops, it was his lowest total in any of the last five seasons, other than 2022-23 when he missed time due to injury.
Yabusele should help fix this issue on multiple levels
Yabusele should help fix those issues. When playing at the four, he should provide a massive spacing boost compared to what Towns got from either Hart or Achiuwa. He is a willing and able shooter, shooting 38 percent on 3.9 attempts from deep last season.
The other layer is that he gives them the flexibility to play at the five, where he is more than capable of stretching the floor as a screener. Last season, Yabusele took 73 threes out of pick-and-pop actions, the eighth-most in the entire league.