The New York Knicks were supposed to be one of the beasts of the East this season. After a strong finish last year and a promising offseason, expectations were sky-high.
And for a while, they lived up to the billing-hovering near the top of the conference, even capturing the NBA Cup along the way. But lately?
Things have started to unravel.
Yes, they just demolished the Nets in a statement win, but one dominant night doesn’t erase what’s been a troubling stretch. Over the past month, the Knicks have looked more like a team drifting toward the lottery than one gearing up for a deep playoff run. The energy’s been off, the chemistry shaky, and the results-well, they speak for themselves.
A lot of eyes are turning toward Karl-Anthony Towns.
When the Knicks made the bold decision to part ways with Tom Thibodeau this past summer and bring in Mike Brown, the goal was clear: take the next step. Thibs had gotten them back to relevance and delivered their deepest playoff run in 25 years.
But the front office wanted more than relevance-they wanted a Finals berth. Brown, with his experience and modern offensive philosophy, was tapped to get them there.
And to be fair, there was always going to be an adjustment period. Brown’s system is a sharp departure from Thibodeau’s grind-it-out approach.
It’s faster, more fluid, and demands more movement and spacing. That’s a big shift for any roster, especially one built around a player like Towns.
The problem? That adjustment is looking more like a misfit.
Reggie Miller, no stranger to Knicks drama, weighed in on The Dan Patrick Show, and he didn’t hold back. “Something just isn’t clicking chemistry-wise in that locker room,” he said.
And he pointed straight at Towns. Last season, under Thibodeau, KAT was putting up 24 and 13-All-Star, All-NBA numbers.
This year? Still solid at 20 and 11, but his shooting has taken a nosedive, and the eye test says he’s struggling to find his rhythm.
“He just doesn’t look comfortable under Mike Brown’s system,” Miller added. That’s a tough pill for Knicks fans to swallow, especially with the trade deadline just two weeks away.
Kendrick Perkins echoed the sentiment: Towns might simply not be the right fit.
This is the kind of crossroads that can define a season. Do the Knicks stay patient and hope the system-player fit improves with time?
Or do they make a bold move and explore trading Towns before the deadline? There’s no easy answer, but the clock is ticking.
It’s not uncommon in the NBA for talented players to struggle when dropped into a system that doesn’t play to their strengths. Towns has always thrived in a more structured, half-court-heavy offense.
Brown wants pace, spacing, and quick decision-making. If Towns is a square peg in a round hole, no amount of time is going to change that.
That said, there’s still a window-albeit a shrinking one-for this to work. If Brown can tweak his scheme to better highlight Towns’ skill set, and if Towns can adapt to the demands of this new system, there’s a chance to salvage this.
But the margin for error is thin. The Knicks are just two spots above the play-in tournament right now, and in a loaded Eastern Conference, that’s dangerous territory.
This was supposed to be the year the Knicks made the leap. The roster, the coaching change, the early-season success-it all pointed in that direction. But now, with the trade deadline looming and the team slipping in the standings, the front office has to ask some hard questions.
Is Karl-Anthony Towns the right guy for this system? Can Mike Brown make the necessary adjustments? Or is it time to shake things up-again?
One thing is clear: the Knicks don’t have the luxury of waiting much longer to find out.