We all had the same dream. If you, like me, grew up in the suburbs as a big-time basketball player, you had a hoop in your driveway. Even if you grew up in a city and didn’t have a basketball hoop in your driveway, the same thing probably happened to you when you were shooting around on your own as a kid. Game 7 of the NBA Finals, down 1, ball in hand, playing for the Knicks. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. He shoots and scores. The Knicks win the championship.

Before our long-term dreams of becoming professional fell through (some sooner than others), we all dreamed of playing for our favorite team. Did Karl-Anthony Towns share the same common experience with us mutual fans growing up in Piscataway, New Jersey? Cities emerged there that he calls Central Jersey, even though they are only nine miles from Staten Island and 22 miles from Manhattan. When the question came up on the Roommates Podcast, Jalen Brunson disagreed. Brunson was born in the neighboring city of New Brunswick and grew up south in Cherry Hill. Jalen says there’s no such thing as Central Jersey, while Josh Hart gave his typical aloof response, comparing it to Korea. As a Jersey native myself, I have to agree with Cap. The North is Taylor Ham, New York Sports and Subs. In the South there are pork rolls, Philly sports and hoagies.

Fate almost brought Towns to the Knicks nine years ago. After dominating at St. Joseph High School, he was a consensus five-star recruit and committed to play for coach John Calipari at Kentucky. His numbers in college weren’t outstanding (he averaged 21.4 minutes per game due to their depth), but he was named a Second-Team All-American and was considered a likely #1 pick at the end of the season.

The Knicks had their worst record in 79 games this year at 15-64. One game ahead of the Timberwolves. On April 11, 2015, the Knicks narrowly outlasted the Magic 80-79, although their leading scorer was Cole Aldrich. Minnesota lost to Golden State by nine points. Two nights later, Minnesota lost again. The Knicks? They outlasted the Hawks with a combined 49 goals from Tim Hardaway Jr. and Langston Galloway. The Knicks were rebuffed by Detroit to end their season, but the damage was done. Minnesota lay down and died, getting wiped out by KD and Westbrook and losing its 66th game. Although the best odds do not necessarily mean the first pick, this was the case in 2015.

The Knicks still had a 19.9% ​​chance of getting KAT, but in typical Knicks fashion fell to fourth place. Honestly, the retreat was a blessing. Kristaps Porzingis was the only bright spot for the Knicks for a few years. If they stick with it, they will likely suffer another defeat with Jahlil Okafor.

KAT’s career in Minnesota could very well lead to 32 players hanging from the Target Center rafters one day. Four All-Star appearances, two All-NBA nominations, 2016 Rookie of the Year and some highlights at All-Star Weekend, winning the 2016 Skills Challenge and the 2022 Three-Point Shootout. He was the face of the franchise as them Emerged from a long playoff drought in 2018 and maintained much of their success even after the emergence of another top pick, Anthony Edwards. Before Ant, KAT routinely averaged 24-26 PPG, but his usage has declined with the emergence of a new superstar in Minnesota.

What hasn’t changed is that he’s a complete anomaly for a big man. Seven feet tall, but one of the best three-point shooters in basketball. He’s hitting 39.6% on 4.3 attempts per game in his career. As Knicks fans, having a big ball that can shoot is completely foreign to us.

I’ll tell you every Knick over 6 feet tall who has hit at least 50 three-pointers in the orange and blue.

Kristaps Porzingis (283)

Luke Kornet (98)

That’s it. KAT has averaged 2.0 15 p.m. per game over the past five seasons. That alone is 164 over an entire season. Realistically, he’s probably a little higher than 2.0 and missing time. Still, within two seasons, he could be the Knicks’ best 15 p.m. front-runner big men.

He’s an even better fit for Jalen Brunson. The second the trade was made, a lot of people were excited about the pick-and-roll (or pick-and-pop) connection. We saw it was extremely effective in preseason. As we exit the preseason, it is abundantly clear what the Knicks will base their offense on. With an extreme iso offense prevalent in recent years, KAT and Brunson completed 68 pick-and-rolls in the preseason (that’s 17 per game). No other duo ran more than 42. And no, this isn’t just experimental. They averaged a ridiculous 1.32 points per possession.

For reference, the best P&R ballhandler in 2023-24 with a decent sample size (2 per game) averaged 1.18. Hey, wait, that’s Immanuel Quickley!

Raise the bar to five per game and the leader is 1.14, according to the SGA. Only Jarrett Allen, Joel Embiid and Brook Lopez averaged a 1.2 PPP as a rollman. This duo could be insanely good in P&R as both are elite perimeter shooters while the ball handler is one of the most skilled guards in basketball.

KAT really has no offensive weakness. He aims for 70% throughout his career, occasionally approaching 75-80%. He had a rocky career at corner, but shot 40.4% there for his career. The only area where he doesn’t meet league average in terms of shooting efficiency is the long two, and that’s still at 39%. It’s also every analyst’s dream of a shot chart. 55-60% of his shots at the rim, 30% from the rim. This helps with distance. For example, Julius Randle takes over 20% of his shots from mid-range, which is statistically the least efficient shot. KAT only made 11% of its shots there last season.

However, he is not perfect. KAT’s defense is lacking at times. Why do you think Rudy Gobert was acquired by Minnesota? It’s no secret that Big Bodega plays like a typical NBA stretch four, but he’s certainly capable of playing the five. Last year he played a sort of 2018 Porzingis role alongside a traditional big, but he’s more than willing to play at the 5 (unlike Porzingis, who reversed his hatred of playing at the 5 after his departure). I have to imagine Tom Thibodeau will be playing in KAT lineups alongside Mitchell Robinson or Precious Achiuwa when they return from injury. No KAT Sims lineups please, Thomas.

Goals. What goals do we have for the Big Purr?

Play with JB at All-Star Weekend

The last two Knicks teammates to share the floor at the All-Star Game were Carmelo Anthony and Tyson Chandler in 2013. That would have changed last year if Julius Randle hadn’t been injured. Unless the basketball gods defeat either of them, this seems like a lock. New York’s popularity should give him a boost, although I doubt he’ll start like JB unless Joel Embiid is injured again.

Make All-NBA

He’s done it twice before, but it might be difficult to make it in the new, non-positional NBA. It is difficult to be one of the top 15 players in the association, especially as a second option. But if you play 65 games, you have a damn good chance.

ECF/Finals MVP?

JB gets one, KAT gets the other. Act?