The New York Knicks reportedly made multiple attempts at trying to land Utah Jazz big man Walker Kessler before they eventually traded for Karl-Anthony Towns. As reported by Marc Stein, the deal fell apart because they didn’t have the draft assets that the Jazz wanted after the Mikal Bridges trade, which is why they made the move for Towns.
“Before coming to terms on a blockbuster swap with Minnesota for Karl-Anthony Towns mere days before the start of training camp, New York made multiple trade runs at Utah’s Walker Kessler to fill its well-chronicled void at center, league sources say.”
“It is believed that Utah wanted at least two future first-round picks for Kessler…after the Knicks had exhausted much of their remaining cache of draft picks in the trade with Brooklyn for [Mikal] Bridges.”
“New York’s desire to acquire a front-line center only grew as the offseason wore on after Isaiah Hartenstein left for Oklahoma City in free agency and with Mitchell Robinson recovering slower than expected from ankle surgery. The Knicks have provided no firm timetable on Robinson’s recovery timetable but it is presumed that he is likely sidelined until at least December.”
Considering the profile of the player that Walker Kessler fits, it makes sense that they wanted to target him as a like-for-like replacement, if not an upgrade, to Isaiah Hartenstein, whom they lost in free agency to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Knicks would’ve made the move had they been able to.
The Knicks had to give up six first-round picks to the Brooklyn Nets as part of the Mikal Bridges trade, which left them with almost no draft capital left to trade. But if they couldn’t get a big like Walker Kessler, they will be more than happy to have landed an All-Star big in Karl-Anthony Towns, despite his shortcomings on defense.
Will Karl-Anthony Towns’ Defense Become A Problem?
One of the biggest concerns that Knicks fans have about Karl-Anthony Towns is his defense. There is no doubt that Towns is one of the most skilled bigs on the offensive end that the league has today. But defensively, he has always been really poor, making him a target for offensive players on opposing teams.
Towns improved his defense significantly in the last few years, after the Timberwolves traded for Rudy Gobert, and moved Towns to the power forward position. Towns became a more locked-in defender. And what he lacked in defensive skill, he made up for the effort he gave the Timberwolves on a nightly basis.
Towns has a career defensive rating of 109.1 in his career, which is poor for a big man. Even as recently as last season, despite his improvement, Towns had a defensive rating of 108.7. His defensive shortcomings were also hidden behind Rudy Gobert, who won the Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Knicks have some solid wing defenders in Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and OG Anunoby. And those players will have to put in a lot of work to try and make sure that Towns’ defensive weakness doesn’t cost them. If they can do that, and Towns can be the incredible offensive player that he is, the Knicks will be better for it.
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