Karl-Anthony Towns is a tough player to evaluate at times. While Towns’ offensive abilities can’t go unnoticed, averaging 24.4 points on 52.6% shooting from the field and 42.0% on high volume from 3-point range last year, many believe that Towns isn’t a winning player.
Many of those criticisms stem from his performance on the defensive side of the basketball and his frequent inability to deliver in big postseason moments. Towns didn’t have a bad playoff by any means, but again, his numbers were down.
Towns averaged 21.4 points and shot 35.1% from the field during the Knicks’ playoff run, which saw them get eliminated by the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Towns is currently playing on a three-year, $171.2 million deal, and Bleacher Report believes that, because of some of his flaws, he has one of the worst contracts in the league.
“Clinging to his anomalous stretch 5 skill set gets you only so far. He’s almost never taken enough threes, he spent this past season getting neutralized on possessions in which he was guarded by smaller players on the perimeter, and the New York Knicks are the second team to realize he’s best served spending plenty of time next to another big who can cover up for his defensive deficiencies.
“Peak Towns is undoubtedly a superstar on offense. The frequency with which we see Peak Towns is more than occasional but not what you’d call consistent,” they wrote.
Towns accounts for 33.51% of the salary cap, which is the more important figure to consider.
While some might suggest that he isn’t the best player in the league, Towns is still likely a top-20 player and ultimately had a good first season in New York.
