ORLANDO — Karl-Anthony Towns has played in every kind of offense over 11 NBA seasons — post-heavy systems, spread pick-and-roll, five-out spacing, you name it. But nothing, he says, quite mirrors the constant motion and positional fluidity Mike Brown has brought to the Knicks.
“It’s different. I haven’t seen it in my 11 years [in the league],” Towns said after practice on Friday. “But I’m having fun with it. I’m just continuing to get better and impact the game, and impact winning and continue to help our team any way possible.”
Brown’s system has turned Towns into a shape-shifter, asking him to learn the responsibilities of all five positions and relocate around the floor in ways he’s never been used before. It’s also produced the slowest shooting start of his career — 42.9% from the field, 31.7% from three, and 21.5 points per game, his second-lowest average since 2018.
“I want to find different ways to impact this team winning, and just continue to figure everything out. We all are,” Towns said. “So definitely on my part, I could do a better job hitting some shots. But I’ll get to that. Numbers will always number out. So I’m just staying confident.”
Brown shares that confidence. The early-season slump was expected — baked into the steep curve Towns and Guerschon Yabusele have had to climb since October. And what matters most to Brown right now isn’t the result, but the process.
“I am, and he’s getting better with it,” Brown said after practice on Friday. “Sometimes he takes a couple steps backwards on [his process], but I thought against Dallas he was pretty good.”
The box score doesn’t reflect it. Towns scored 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting and 1-of-6 from deep against the Mavericks on Wednesday, and he shot 7-of-19 and 1-of-7 from three in Monday’s loss in Miami. He has shot under 42% in four of his last five games.
“[He’s] doing good. Just playing the right way, I think that’s the biggest thing,” said Mikal Bridges. “Just being aggressive and reading defenses and playing basketball.”
The Knicks acquired Towns in the blockbuster that sent Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and a first-round pick to Minnesota two summers ago. Under Tom Thibodeau last season, Towns averaged 24.4 points on 52.6% from the field and 42% from three. Brown’s offensive overhaul isn’t about replicating that stat line. It’s about repositioning Towns as a multi-level fulcrum — not a stretch big, but a moving target.
Brown said Towns’ shot diet in the win over Dallas reflected exactly what he wants to see this season — even if the open threes didn’t fall.
“He mixed it up quite a bit. Sometimes he caught it at the elbow,” Brown said. “He caught it at the post a couple times. Caught it at the top of the floor a couple times.”
Brown imported his pace-and-space, run-and-gun principles from Sacramento and his years alongside Steve Kerr in Golden State, then redesigned Towns’ role to weaponize his versatility instead of narrowing it. He wants Towns to continue hunting the three-point line — but to shoot from the line, not two steps behind it, where the shot becomes unnecessarily difficult.
“The one thing I want him to consistently do — he’s got a beautiful stroke, but until he finds that, I want him to keep finding the [three-point] line a little bit more,” Brown said. “He can stop [closer to the line] because of the pressure that we’re trying to put on the defense early in the clock.”
Brown is also navigating the evolving partnership between Towns and Jalen Brunson, staggering their minutes to maximize both.
“I think they’re just playing and taking the best possible shot,” Brown said. “Obviously when Jalen’s off the floor, it’d be great to have KAT on the floor. They’ve each gotta rest. So when we have KAT off the floor, vice versa, and so that’s what we try to do.
“And obviously they both start together and end the game together, but now during the substitution time, we like to have one of the two on the floor at all times.”
