Can Knicks’ defense hold up with Karl-Anthony Towns at center?

Knicks fans are still coming down from the shock of Friday night’s blockbuster trade, in which New York dealt Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo for Karl-Anthony Towns. The acquisition brings home one of the best shooting bigs of all time, who has the potential to transform their offense into a juggernaut.

There’s little concern as to how the Knicks will operate on that end with Towns at the five. Jalen Brunson is their engine and Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby are skilled connectors and finishers, while Towns spreads the floor and picks defenses apart.

The real question comes on the defensive end.

Historically, Minnesota has been been lackluster at stopping opposing offenses with Towns as their primary rim defender, but the trend has been moving in the right direction — and he’ll have the best defensive supporting cast of his career.

This question is pivotal to New York’s success, as teams that aren’t atop the league on both sides of the ball rarely win a title. So will the Knicks’ new lineup be able to stymie opponents, or will its promise be dead on arrival?

Regardless of the defensive personnel around him, Towns-centered teams were glorified turnstiles for a large part of his early career. Minnesota ranked in the bottom 10 in defense for six straight seasons from 2015-16 to 2020-21, with their best performance coming in the year Towns missed almost half of their games.

This didn’t all fall on Towns, and being ineffective defensively as a young NBA big isn’t a unique story. He improved modestly as the years went by, and the team’s performance turned around with it.

The Timberwolves ranked 13th in points allowed per 100 possessions in 2021-22, with Towns at the center position and some dynamic help surrounding him in Jarred Vanderbilt and Jaden McDaniels. Minnesota then brought in perennial Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to man the five, and after an injury-plagued and disastrous debut season, he, Towns and Anthony Edwards led Minnesota to the best defense in the league last season.

Even with Gobert off the floor and Towns at center, Minnesota allowed only 111 points per 100 possessions,…

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Author : SNY

Publish date : 2024-10-02 15:00:04

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