It has been a tremendous first season in the Big Apple for New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns. The big man is having arguably the best individual season of his career with 24.3 points, 13.0 rebounds, 52.6% shooting from the floor and 42.8% from three-point range.
Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns projected to make All-NBA third team
His contributions have seen his name be inserted into the MVP conversation at various points throughout the season. Towns’ dominance this season will also likely be rewarded with an All-NBA selection, as CBS Sports’ Sam Quinn has the seven-footer making a third-team selection.
“His pick-and-roll partnership with [Jalen] Brunson is lethal in just about every matchup besides Boston. No one else has the tools to switch it, and if you don’t, there’s just too much combined skill, shooting, and in Towns’ case, athleticism. It’s hard to make an All-NBA team as a big man that doesn’t defend especially well, but 52-42-83 shooting with 13 rebounds per night is enough to make up for it,” Quinn wrote.
Towns and Brunson have established themselves as one of the most potent duos in the NBA. Both players were starters in this year’s All-Star Game and are key to the team’s overall success this season.
Towns’ dominance has led to team success
New York is in the midst of its best season in over a decade, as entering Tuesday they have a 43-24 record and are sitting firmly in the third seed of the Eastern Conference standings. There are still concerns about how they will perform in the postseason given their defensive woes and other flaws, but there is no denying the dominant performance Towns has put on this season.
If Towns were to be named to an All-NBA squad, he’d be the third Knicks player since 2021 to be given that honor. Julius Randle made All-NBA second team in 2021 and third team in 2023, while Brunson was given All-NBA second-team honors last season.
Provided that Brunson reaches the 65-game minimum to be eligible for the end of season awards, the Knicks will likely have two players make an All-NBA team this season. The hope is that the success that the two had in the regular season carries over into the playoffs and can propel the team to possibly winning a title this season.