Karl-Anthony Towns is growing, but the Knicks still need more

The New York Knicks have been playing mostly well lately, and Karl-Anthony Towns deserves some of the credit. The team recent loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers aside, Towns has figured out how to impact the game. Despite shooting the ball less, he puts forth significant effort on the glass and impacts games where he can. But The Knicks will need more from Towns than 14 points on four shots in their 109-94 loss to the Cavaliers. And frankly, they’re going to need more than the 20 points per game he’s averaging this season if they hope to even win a championship.

On the field, Towns seems to have lost his grasp on how to score. Towns has spoken a lot this season about Mike Brown’s lack of understanding of his role in the offense. And his four-shot performance in the team’s loss against Cleveland shows he still hasn’t figured it out.

Towns is too skilled a shooter to only get four field goal attempts. Most recently, he averaged 24.4 points per game last season. And the team probably needs even more from him if they hope to win a championship. Instead, they are fewer and fewer.

To take the next step, the Knicks need to play Karl-Anthony Towns

In fairness, the Knicks need Towns to do what he has become known for, score the basketball. He’s a great rebounder. If he somehow develops into an elite passer and defender, that would be great too. But New York needs Towns’ scoring.

The Knicks are ninth in points per game this season (117.1). Last season they were seventh (115.8). So while they’re scoring a bit more, they haven’t followed the broader increase in points per game in the league, as they’ve fallen two places. That kind of relative decline isn’t the end of the world, though. In fact, the Knicks offense is still pretty impressive, when it works.

The same can be said for cities. He had his share of successes. But he’s scoring the second fewest points of his career (20.0), which is just the wrong direction for him. The Knicks hoped that Towns, Branson and Brown would complement each other. Instead, Towns has become more inconsistent than ever.

It’s important to remember that Towns received less criticism last season. He scored 24.4 points per game with 22 30-point outings—and the Knicks then failed to reach the Finals.

Mike Brown needs to create more tackles for Karl-Anthony Towns

Unfortunately, Brown’s system seems to limit Towns’ ability to reach his potential. Cities are rarely the focus this season. He is averaging about 6.1 dunk or layup attempts per game this season. Comparatively, he averaged 7.85 dunks or layups per game. It also has one less isolation for him per game.

Overall, Towns is averaging three fewer attempts per game (16.9 in 2024-25 to 13.9 in 2025-26). And the shot attempts he doesn’t seem to be the ones he’d rather take. Towns’ lack of understanding of his role means he doesn’t know when or where his attempts might come. And that’s the problem.

Furthermore, without Towns carrying a larger scoring load, there is significant—and some might say too much—pressure on Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby and others. And while Brunson’s impact is consistently strong, Anunoby just isn’t the caliber of scorer that Towns is. And asking him to be the second option on a championship team is probably too much. The same can be said for Michal Bridges.

Karl-Anthony Towns’ salary dictates that he must do more

Another problem with Towns scoring less is his salary. Towns is an objectively superior offensive talent. And that’s how he got paid.

Towns is making $53 million this season, with another $57 million guaranteed next year and a $61 million player option in 2027-28 (which he will likely decline). With the Knicks salary for 2025-26. which is set at $211 million, Towns represents just over 25 percent. That’s too much for a player who hasn’t been introduced or used properly.

Paying Towns as a franchise player limits the team’s ability to maximize the potential around him. But Towns is clearly talented enough to command a star-level salary.

So the answer for the Knicks is clear; if New York wants to see how far they can go, they need to get Towns more involved. Give it a chance to succeed (or fail). But by limiting him, it limits the team’s potential and puts a ceiling on what they could accomplish this season—and beyond.