The greatest offensive basketball players know where their shots are coming from. Some even have it down to a science. Seven points a quarter, for example, was Michael Jordan’s math to 28 easy points per game, an equation Carmelo Anthony later copied to average the same number three times in his H all of Fame NBA career. Yet as we approach the midway point of the Knicks inaugural season under new head coach Mike Brown, there is no rhyme, reason, or rhythm to how Karl-Anthony Towns is getting his shots — if they ever come. Friday’s 112-107 loss to the Phoenix Suns was a prime example: Towns won’t complain about shot attempts, and Brown prioritizes ball and body movement over shot distribution, but the Knicks’ star 7-footer shot just 5-for-11 from the field for 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists on the night against Mark Williams, a fine defensive center Phoenix acquired from the Charlotte Hornets but not, by any accounts, a game-changer at the center spot. Towns took one shot each in both the second and fourth quarters on Friday. It’s a trend that’s played out since Brown assumed the role as head coach. Towns may have been hidden within Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks offense last season, but he was still getting volume in decent doses. He is now averaging 2.5 fewer field goal attempts per game year-over-year. For context, Jalen Brunson is taking three more shots a night compared to last season (though the trend has shifted in recent games). Miles McBride’s field goal attempts are also up, while both Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby have seen shot dips, too. “I’m going to keep shooting and keep making space for my teammates. I’m gonna keep trying to be as impactful for winning as possible and be the best in the role as possible,” Towns said after the loss. “Getting my teammates involved and moving the ball and making the defense shift and giving the whole team space to operate my passing gravity. I am trying to do my best in my role and impact the winning. Tonight, it is unfortunate we did not do enough to win. I thought we did a great job to put ourselves in the position to win, so it’s more disappointing.” Yet no player on the Knicks is more decorated than Towns, a five-time NBA All-Star, three-time All-NBA Third-Team member, the 2016 Rookie of the Year and 2022 3-Point Champion (the only center ever to win the All-Star Weekend event). And no player has seen an offensive role reduction as drastic as Towns in Brown’s offense that leans heavily toward guard play. The Knicks can’t win like that. Not with $53 million committed to Towns this season, $57 million for the 2026-27 season, plus a $61 million player option for 2027-28. And here are some more damning numbers Brown can show his team during practice: Towns ranks seventh on the Knicks in first-quarter field goal attempts over the team’s last 10 games at fewer than three shots (2.8) in the opening period. For reference, rookie Mohamed Diawara is averaging three shot attempts in the first quarter, Bridges and Anunoby are averaging a hair over three shots, McBride is at 3.5 and Brunson is at 7.2. Towns took one shot in the first quarter of the loss to the 76ers, no field goals in both the first and fourth quarters of the loss to the Detroit Pistons, and two field goals each in both the second and third quarters against the San Antonio Spurs and quarters two through four against the New Orleans Pelicans. Maybe there’s an easy solution hiding in plain sight: Put Towns on a shot diet and force feed him the ball. Four shots a quarter gets Towns to his career average of 16 field goal attempts per game. Towns has attempted 16 or more field goals in just 13 of the 35 games he’s appeared in this season. Which means the Knicks are wasting away their investment in one of the best scoring big men of all-time, the player they traded Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo to acquire in a deal supposed to both raise this team’s offensive ceiling and alleviate the scoring pressure from Brunson’s shoulders. Towns, of course, is not without blame. Shaquille O’Neal, after all, would eliminate his teammates and play one-on-five before letting them freeze him out of the offense. Towns, on the contrary, often disappears on the scoring side. He lets a lack of foul calls shake him out of his game. And he also has not converted on open threes at a rate worthy of his self-proclaimed title as the best shooting big man in NBA history. He is below 35% from deep for the first time since his rookie season and is shooting 9.1% from deep (3-of-16) in the new calendar year. It’s hard to get a rhythm when you don’t know where your shots are coming from, when you’re a footnote, an afterthought in an offense designed to get shots up faster and more frequent than ever before. Which means it’s time for the Knicks to establish some order. It’s time for the Knicks to take advantage of their highest-paid player. Because why are you shelling out all that money for Towns to be as woefully underutilized as he’s been this season? ...read more read less