The New York Knicks haven’t made the NBA Finals in this millennium but Kendrick Perkins thinks that is about to change after trading for Karl-Anthony Towns. On NBA Today, Perkins was asked if Towns is the missing piece to get the Knicks to the Finals and he firmly believes that to be the case.
“Hell yeah he is,” Perkins said. “Wasn’t Kristaps Porzingis the piece for the Boston Celtics? Right? To get them over the top. I don’t think we realize how great of a player or talent Karl-Anthony Towns is.
“Let’s remember, the second round of the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets, he outplayed (Nikola) Jokic on both ends of the floor,” Perkins continued. “Now, he was cooking him. He was having his moments all throughout the postseason, especially in that second round defensively as well.
“So, when you think about KAT, yes everybody want to talk about he’s a stretch shooting big,” Perkins added. “I get that. He can shoot the three and knock down the three but also could put it on the floor. He also have low post moves, jump hooks, turnarounds. Whatever you want he has it.
“I believe the Knicks, they’re going to bring it out of him because of the culture is there,” Perkins stated. “Tom Thibodeau is going to get the best out of KAT and he is going to take the New York Knicks to better heights.”
While I think Towns can potentially help the Knicks get to the Finals for the first time since 1999, I disagree with some points that Perkins made there. For starters, Porzingis didn’t end up playing for much of the postseason due to injury, so I don’t think he was necessarily the missing piece for the Celtics. The Latvian played a big role in their win in Game 1 of the Finals, but that was about it.
Perkins also claimed that Towns outplayed Jokic when they met in the playoffs and that’s an absurd statement. The three-time MVP averaged 29.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game in that series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Denver Nuggets.
Towns, meanwhile, averaged 18.6 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game. I thought he played very well and did as good a job defensively as anyone had on Jokic in a very long time, but he didn’t outplay him.
Now, getting back to Perkins’ main point, I think Towns, who averaged 21.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game last season, is a good fit for the Knicks. The 28-year-old’s shooting prowess (41.6% from three last season) will allow them to play five out and Jalen Brunson should be able to cause even more havoc on the court as a result.
The Knicks should be an excellent three-point shooting team next season and that would certainly help if they do end up facing the Celtics in the postseason. I think it’s safe to say the Knicks have made these moves for Towns and Mikal Bridges to match up better with the defending champions and a series between these two teams could well turn out to be an epic. I would still have the Celtics as the favorite, but not by much.
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