The New York Knicks have to be honest with themselves and Karl-Anthony Towns, if they seriously want to win an NBA Championship.
The New York Knicks have to be proud of their playoff run. They made the conference finals for the first time in 25 years, and were a few unfortunate bounces and a blown fourth-quarter lead from their series against the Indiana Pacers going very differently. Nevertheless, it couldn't have been more clear that if the Knicks are serious about winning an NBA Championship, they may have a Karl-Anthony Towns problem they need to solve.
On the one hand, the Knicks probably don't make the conference finals without KAT. He played a big role for the team all throughout the postseason and came up big in key moments for the team, too. Without his 20-point fourth quarter in Game 3 against the Pacers, they would have probably swept in the conference finals.
KAT has become a burden for the New York Knicks
All that said, the juice may not be worth the squeeze. For everything that KAT brings offensively, he frustrates on the other end of the floor. According to a recent report, the Knicks organization was frustrated with KAT's effort on the defensive end all year long. Add in the huge contract that KAT is on for the foreseeable future, and the Knicks clearly have a big problem. KAT is due a combined $110 million over the next two years and has a $61 million player option for 2027-28.
The reason KAT is a big problem for the Knicks revolves around the idea that if they want to significantly improve their roster, they'll almost certainly have to trade him. With his contract and all his deficiences, the trade market surrounding KAT has always been confusing.
It was a bit shocking to see the Knicks take a bold gamble on the KAT trade last summer. To be perfectly honest, even though it did somewhat work out for the team, if the Knicks want to take another step forward as a franchise, they'll have to make a similar type of move this offseason.
The Knicks have a nice, deep playoff run. But they were also beneficiaries of luck. The Celtics were banged up and then lost Jayson Tatum. The Detroit Pistons easily could've beaten them if the ball had bounced differently in that series, too.
I wouldn't completely suggest that the Knicks' run to the conference finals was a fluke, but it would be foolish to say that they also don't have to make upgrades to their roster this summer. I can't envision the Knicks running it back and then believing they have a great chance of getting right back to the conference finals.
Could it happen? Absolutely. However, I do believe that if the Knicks are serious about winning an NBA Championship, they'll have to make another big offseason move. To be honest, if that were to happen, it probably has to begin with realizing that KAT is a problem. It's a pretty big one.