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After the Knicks’ third loss of the year to the Pistons, Karl-Anthony Towns has come under fire, specifically as it relates to his contract.
The New York Knicks took a risk by trading for Karl-Anthony Towns before last season, and while he continues to be a key piece for the team, the center has been scrutinized for his play across this season.
Most recently, after the Knicks’ loss to the Detroit Pistons, their third of the year, Towns came under more criticism than ever before, with questions being raised about whether he is a strong fit on the team next to franchise star Jalen Brunson.
Now, based on a new list published by Bleacher Report, Towns was named as one of the NBA’s stars not living up to his massive contract.
“Towns is an offense-only player who’s earning $53.1 million, and he currently ranks 45th in Offensive Estimated Plus/Minus,” Grant Hughes wrote about the Knicks’ center. “Lineups featuring Towns without Jalen Brunson score at a rate in the 67th percentile—solid, but not exactly the level you’d expect from a player earning the same amount as Giannis Antetokounmpo this season.”
Towns is currently in the middle of a four-year, $220 million deal he signed in 2022.
Karl-Anthony Towns Not Living Up To Contract With Knicks
Making $53 million this season, set to earn $57 million next year, and with a $61 million player option in 2027-28, questions are being raised if Towns is the right fit in New York.
This season, he is averaging 19.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists on 46.7% shooting. His scoring average is his lowest since his rookie season, and his 31.3 minutes per game average with the Knicks this year is the lowest of his career.
As it relates to the drop in minutes, that was evident in New York’s latest loss to Detroit, as he played in just 31 minutes in the loss, despite the Pistons not having either Jalen Duren or Isaiah Stewart, both of whom are serving suspensions from their recent brawl with the Charlotte Hornets.
Specifically on the defensive end of the floor, Towns offers little help, as has been the case for much of his career. The rebounding numbers are strong (currently second in the NBA), but overall, the seven-footer doesn’t offer much rim-protection or reliability anchoring the Knicks on that side of the floor.
“The Knicks, like the Minnesota Timberwolves before them, have to employ a defense-first center next to KAT because of his shortcomings as a stopper,” Hughes added. “Unfortunately, Towns also can’t guard most modern forwards in space and is also subject to bouts of ill-advised fouls. Teammates have griped in the past about his commitment to learning the team’s defensive schemes.”
While showing promise at times, Towns was expected to be a major difference-maker for the Knicks under new head coach Mike Brown. So far, that has not been the case, and while players like Brunson, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Mikal Bridges have continued to perform at a high level, the questions about Towns only continue to grow.
“In short, Towns is compensated as if he’s the kind of superstar whom you can build any team around, and upon whom coaches can heap first-option responsibilities while expecting passable defensive contributions,” Hughes closed with. “He is none of those things.”
Towns Under Fire After Another Pistons Loss
While the issues for Towns have been clear all season, he came under fire on social media, specifically after the Knicks’ loss to the Pistons, which capped off a season-sweep in which Detroit won three games by an average of 28 points.
The Detroit Pistons are 3-0 vs the New York Knicks this season.
They’ve won by an average of 28 points per game.
Speaking after the loss, Town gave a blunt answer in response to what fans are calling yet another disappointing performance for the Knicks’ big man.
“I mean, our offense is our offense. It’s been that way all year,” Towns said, per SNY. “So we have our system and we’re gonna — regardless of who’s in the game or not in the game — we run the system that we have implemented for our team to the best of our abilities.”
KAT on whether Knicks looked at running offense thru him with both Pistons centers out: “I mean, our offense is our offense. It’s been the whole year. We have our system and regardless of who’s in the game or not we’re gonna run the system that we have…”
New York’s coaching staff is well aware of Towns’ struggles this season, specifically Brown, who said that the team is trying to unlock his full potential, but what they’ve tried already hasn’t worked so far.
“He’s comfortable,” Brown said postgame. “We’re continuing to try to do different things to help free him up. And we’ll continue to search to try to do different things to free him up throughout the course of the year.”
The Knicks are currently third in the Eastern Conference with a record of 35-21, tied with the Cleveland Cavaliers and behind the Boston Celtics and Pistons. However, as they haven’t beaten Detroit all season, a team they easily dominated in the first round of the playoffs last year, their winning a seven-game series against the younger squad feels unlikely at this point in the season.
Towns is locked under contract for the next few years, but with the massive amount of space his deal is taking up on New York’s salary cap as their highest-paid player, his future with the team is growing more uncertain as the year goes on.
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski
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