Karl-Anthony Towns
Karl-Anthony Towns is the New York Knicks center and 2016 Rookie of the Year, a 2026 NBA champion and one of the best shooting big men in league history.
Karl-Anthony Towns is a 7-foot center and power forward for the New York Knicks, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft and the 2016 Rookie of the Year, widely regarded as one of the most accomplished shooting big men in league history. He spent his first nine seasons rebuilding the Minnesota Timberwolves into a contender before an October 2024 trade sent him to New York, where he pairs with guard Jalen Brunson and won the 2026 NBA championship. A six-time All-Star and a past Three-Point Contest winner, Towns combines center size with guard-level range — a profile that reshaped how the modern NBA uses its biggest players.
| Vitals | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 15, 1995, Edison, New Jersey |
| Position | Center / Power forward |
| Teams | Minnesota Timberwolves (2015–2024), New York Knicks (2024–present) |
| Draft | 2015, 1st overall (Minnesota) |
| Contract | Signed through 2027-28; $57,078,728 in 2026-27 (as of Oct. 29, 2026) |
| Number | No. 32 |
Kentucky
One and done. Towns arrived at Kentucky in 2014 as a centerpiece of a John Calipari recruiting class that would push the sport to the edge of history. Across 39 games he averaged 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocks on 56.6 percent shooting — modest counting numbers that understated his impact on a platoon-heavy roster stacked with future pros.
A season cut short. The 2014-15 Wildcats won their first 38 games and carried a perfect record into the Final Four before finishing 38–1, a national-semifinal loss to Wisconsin ending the undefeated bid. Towns left after one season as a consensus All-American and the consensus top prospect in his draft class.
Timberwolves years
The arrival. Minnesota made Towns the first pick of the 2015 draft, and he delivered immediately, averaging 18.3 points and 10.5 rebounds as a rookie and winning the 2016 Rookie of the Year award.
The ascent. His scoring jumped to 25.1 points per game in 2016-17, and by 2017-18 he was a first-time All-Star on a Timberwolves team that reached the playoffs for the first time since 2004. He posted a career-best 26.5 points per game in the shortened 2019-20 season and remained the franchise’s offensive hub even as coaching changes and roster churn kept Minnesota in flux.
The reinvention. After Minnesota acquired Rudy Gobert in 2022, Towns shifted to power forward, stretching the floor alongside a traditional center. That same era produced his signature individual flourish — in 2022 he became the first center to win the NBA Three-Point Contest — and, in 2024, a run to the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves’ first in 20 years. Across nine seasons he finished second in franchise history in points, rebounds and three-pointers made.
Trade to New York
The deal. In October 2024, with Minnesota reshaping its payroll, the Timberwolves traded Towns to New York in a three-team deal that also involved the Charlotte Hornets. The Knicks sent Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo and Keita Bates-Diop, plus a future first-round pick, to Minnesota to acquire Towns — a swap that paired one of the league’s premier shooting bigs with a rising New York core.
The fit. The move slotted Towns as the offensive counterweight to Brunson, giving the Knicks a pick-and-pop threat and interior scorer they had long lacked.
Knicks career
Year one. Towns was immediately productive in New York, averaging 24.4 points and 12.8 rebounds while shooting .420 from three in 2024-25, his most efficient high-volume perimeter season. The Knicks advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to Indiana in six games.
The title. In 2025-26 Towns posted 20.1 points and 11.9 rebounds per game as the Knicks broke through, winning the 2026 NBA championship — the first title of his career and the result that defined the trade. The partnership with Brunson became the backbone of a New York team that had spent a generation chasing a contender.
Playing style
The shooting big. Towns’ defining trait is range rarely seen at his size. A career 39.7 percent three-point shooter on genuine volume, he pulls opposing centers away from the rim and opens driving lanes for guards — the gravity that makes him a nightmare matchup in pick-and-pop sets. He is also a career 52.2 percent shooter from the field with soft touch in the post and reliable work at the line.
The questions. His rebounding has fluctuated with his role and his interior defense has drawn scrutiny throughout his career, debates that followed him from Minnesota to New York even as the 2026 championship quieted some of them.
By the numbers
| Season | Team | GP | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | MIN | 82 | 18.3 | 10.5 | 2.0 | .542 | .341 |
| 2016-17 | MIN | 82 | 25.1 | 12.3 | 2.7 | .542 | .367 |
| 2017-18 | MIN | 82 | 21.3 | 12.3 | 2.4 | .545 | .421 |
| 2018-19 | MIN | 77 | 24.4 | 12.4 | 3.4 | .518 | .400 |
| 2019-20 | MIN | 35 | 26.5 | 10.8 | 4.4 | .508 | .412 |
| 2020-21 | MIN | 50 | 24.8 | 10.6 | 4.5 | .486 | .387 |
| 2021-22 | MIN | 74 | 24.6 | 9.8 | 3.6 | .529 | .410 |
| 2022-23 | MIN | 29 | 20.8 | 8.1 | 4.8 | .495 | .366 |
| 2023-24 | MIN | 62 | 21.8 | 8.3 | 3.0 | .504 | .416 |
| 2024-25 | NYK | 72 | 24.4 | 12.8 | 3.1 | .526 | .420 |
| 2025-26 | NYK | 75 | 20.1 | 11.9 | 3.0 | .501 | .368 |
Per Basketball-Reference, through the 2025-26 season.
Career totals
Ranks
- 2nd Points, Timberwolves history (13,121)
- 2nd Rebounds, Timberwolves history (6,216)
- 2nd Three-pointers made, Timberwolves history (975)
- 4th Games played, Timberwolves history (573)
Honors
- 2026 NBA champion
- 2016 Rookie of the Year
- 6× All-Star (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025, 2026)
- 3× All-NBA Third Team (2018, 2022, 2025)
- 2022 Three-Point Contest champion
- 2016 All-Rookie First Team
Per Basketball-Reference and the Timberwolves franchise leaders, through the 2025-26 season.
The arguments
Elite hub or flawed foundation? For years, critics argued that Towns’ teams underachieved and that his defense and playoff impact lagged behind his gifts. His defenders countered that unstable rosters and coaching turnover in Minnesota, not Towns himself, capped those teams. The 2024 Western Conference Finals run and the 2026 title gave the latter camp its strongest evidence.
Center or power forward? Analysts have long debated his best position. One view holds that Towns is most valuable as a floor-spacing power forward next to a rim-protecting center, the role Minnesota gave him after the Gobert trade. Another holds that his offensive ceiling is highest as a primary center, the role New York restored. Both arrangements reached a conference finals, leaving the question genuinely open.
Was the supermax worth it? When Towns signed his four-year supermax extension, some analysts questioned committing max money to a big man with recurring injury absences and defensive question marks. Others argued that durable, elite floor-spacing size is among the scarcest commodities in the league. As of Oct. 29, 2026 he remains signed through 2027-28, earning $57,078,728 in 2026-27.
Why it matters
Towns is the rare big man who helped drag his position into the three-point era rather than being left behind by it — a No. 1 pick who became a Rookie of the Year, a six-time All-Star, the first center to win a shooting contest and, finally, a champion. His career traces the modern NBA’s reimagining of size: from a back-to-the-basket center in Minnesota to the floor-spacing cornerstone of a title team in New York. For a Knicks franchise that spent decades searching for a star big to pair with a lead guard, Towns is the piece that completed the puzzle alongside Jalen Brunson.
